Hidden in the Dark
by HoshiToYume
Summary: Someone from the future returns and remains hidden in plain sight to help the ones she loves overcome their "perfect destiny" UxS WARNING: may contain disturbing scenes in upcoming chapters
1. Chapter 1

**I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE ORIGINAL SAILOR MOON CHARACTERS**

In the fog she stood waiting, waiting for the world's last hope. Normally she wouldn't mind since she had been at her post guarding the Time Gates for a very, very long time. But no, this time she was nervous. All she could do was wait in anticipation and hope that this person would come soon. For several months now, they had been planning and had to time it perfectly so that when a jump to the past was made, it would be almost undetectable.

"…Pluto…"

She finally heard it. Without hesitation, she raised her staff and the red orb on the top shone brightly. When the light faded, a black figure with bright yellow eyes stood before her. Its decaying skin was gray and black, twisting and stretching at places and its mouth was open and hollow. Then, it glowed a faint white light and in an instant, it became a small child. A girl no older than 10 years of age. She was pale and small; her clothes were tattered and bloody although she did not seem to have any evident injuries. Her eyes, however, were those of a soldier that have seen too many battles, too many deaths.

"I almost thought I made a mistake and brought a wraith here." Pluto continued, "It's been a while. Have you got everything you need?"

"Yes"

"Ok, here's the address of where you can stay when you get there. I'll remind you once again – you'll have a week to get familiar with the past before the lights return. You HAVE to be subtle about this otherwise HE might sense something wrong and your mission won't turn out the way we want it. I can communicate with you on your minicomputer to help however I can but otherwise, I have to stay here to guard the gates in case they come through this way. Are you ready?"

The girl hesitated for a fraction of a second and sighed, "As ready as I guess I'll be. B..but I still think _SHE_ would be a better choice since everyone already trusts her."

"I know. But her energy is too easily recognized even when she's disguised." A small smile graced Pluto's lips, "I have faith in you, little one. We all do. You'll rescue us all from this future because you are a great senshi… just like your parents"

The girl smiled slightly upon hearing this – it has been a while since she smiled at all. And with tears glistening in her eyes, she whispered, "Thank you, Pluto-baasan"

After a quick hug, Pluto once again raised her staff and the red light from her orb encased the girl. It vanished soon after, leaving Pluto alone by the Time Gates once again.

"Good luck… Miya"

**Please review!**

**FYI: _baasan_ means auntie or old lady in Japanese... In this case, its Auntie **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** **for simplicity purposes, the Starlights will only be females when they're transformed. Please bear with me through this chapter… I need some sort of intro to Usagi and Seiya. I promise chap 3 will be better! **

**Please enjoy!  
**

Night had fallen on a warm summer's night in Tokyo. Usagi was outside on her balcony; she was all dressed for bed in her short white pj pants and pink t-shirt with a bunny in the front. After a long day, she would've normally jumped right into bed to go to sleep. Instead, she sought comfort among the stars. She peered out into the night sky, her eyes unfocused on anything.

Many nights, for many hours, she would just look out at the stars. She found the quiet starry sky peacefully. It helped her relax and let her mind go blank, as if the nothing in the world existed anymore – just peace.

The world had been at peace for almost a year now, after the defeat of Galaxia. Usagi and her friends enjoyed being 'average' teenagers. They would laugh, joke, talk about boys, and anything interesting that happened at school. On top of that, her boyfriend had come back to her. He had promised that he would never leave her side again. She was really glad he was back… glad that they were ALL back. Yes, life was perfect for Usagi this past year, exactly as she wished for. Everyday was filled with laughter and happiness. But even though life was perfect, she couldn't account for the sense of 'discomfort' she had. Usagi had not bothered to mention this to any of her friends or her boyfriend since it was no big deal, but she couldn't feel the peace with her daily life as she did when she looked at the stars. She had no idea why star gazing had brought her such comfort, but she didn't mind.

So she stood there, looking at the stars, for a while longer…. Just like every other night.

On the other side of the galaxy, on a planet named Kinmoku, Seiya also sought comfort by looking at the stars. It soothed him knowing that the galaxy was at peace and the reconstruction of his planet was almost complete. He spent most of his days helping out wherever he can, whether it be training the star senshi's or building new structures. There was something for him to do every day and he would be able to spend with his best friends and comrades – Yaten and Taiki. They had grew up with each other and been through a lot together. The 3 of them always had a silent understanding of each other and knew how each other felt even if it wasn't obvious to other people. Whilst they were on Earth, they adopted a new persona; they were all more comfortable being referred to with their Earth persona when they were off duty or with each other. As female senshis, they disguised themselves as males to search for their missing princess when Galaxia had attacked. Upon finding their princess on Earth last year, they returned to restore their home planet. But each left with new friendships and heavy hearts.

Seiya had left behind his love. He left knowing that Usagi was protected by the one she loved and with that he had no regrets. Although his departure from Earth, from Odango, was bittersweet, he realized it was for the best and that no matter how much he would miss her, life had to go on. During the day, he would laugh and joke with everyone and his ego was still just as big. But at night, he would just stare at the stars and enjoy the quietness of his thoughts. Yaten and Taiki had noticed his new 'obsession' with star gazing, since he normally would have went straight to bed after a long day or went into Yaten's room to prank the silver-haired boy. But they realized kept quiet as there was nothing they could do.

Someone knocked on Maker's door.

"Maker, are you sleeping yet?" The door opened slightly.

"Princess! Wait a moment!" As he blushed, Taiki quickly pulled a shirt over his bare muscular torso and transformed into a woman.

Kakyuu-hime giggled and walked into the room. "Gomen nasai. I didn't mean to surprise you."

"It's alright Princess. So why are you sneaking into people's rooms at night?" teased Taiki as he bowed.

She giggled once again, "Please, there is no need for formalities. I simply wanted to ask you to gather Healer and Fighter tomorrow at 9am in my throne room."

"Yes Princess. Is it something we should be concerned about?"

"Oh we'll discuss that tomorrow," she started to turn around to leave "and Maker, next time, you could remain as male the next time I …sneak… into your room. Goodnight Maker" With that, she giggled again and left as Taiki blushed while absently scratching the back of his head, "Goodnight Princess".

He left his room to approach Yaten's room down the hallway and knocked.

"Who is it?" Yaten answered with a tone of annoyance. He opened the door to find Taiki looming over him. "What do you want?"

"Princess told me to tell you and Seiya to meet in the throne room tomorrow at 9am"

"Ok" then he paused. "Have you told Seiya yet?"

"No. Why?" Taiki raised an eyebrow as he saw that Yaten was up to something.

'His guard will be down when he's star gazing' He thought to himself, "I can go tell him!" he answered as his eyes glinted mischievously. Taiki sighed and placed his hand on his forehead knowing that he would have to supervise Yaten in case his prank got out of hand.

So the two of them went further down the hallway to Seiya's room. Yaten told Taiki to be quiet as he opened the door. He crouched low and quickly made it to the balcony were Seiya was sitting with his back to the room, lost in his thoughts. Yaten held his breath as he crept up behind the distracted boy. He got close to his ear and blew as hard as he can into it whilst brushing his hand against Seiya's collar bone. Seiya yelped and quickly jumped out of his seat, his cheeks were bright red. Yaten burst out laughing as did Taiki as he stepped onto the balcony.

"YATEN! What are you doing?!" Seiya was rubbing his ear and protecting his collar bone.

"I can't believe you're still sensitive there!" Yaten replied, which caused Seiya to blush even more.

Taiki saw an opening and asked slyly "And how did you know he was sensitive there in the first place, Yaten?"

With that comment, Yaten blushed "EH? Wwha… Don't think weird things. We were in a fight when we were kids and I accidently brushed his collar bone and he screamed and started blushing"

"WHY ARE YOU TWO HERE?" Seiya yelled as his two friends burst out laughing again.

"Princess. Throne room. 9am" was all Yaten could squeeze out between his laughter.

"Mou… baka" and he turned around. He waited until the laughter died down and spoke again "Do you guys know what its about?"

"No, but the princess said not to worry about it. So it can't be anything bad. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning." Replied Taiki, "It's getting late. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Goodnight" and he left the room.

"Ahh me too. I need my beauty sleep. Goodnight Seiya-_channn_" Yaten quickly ran out the room before Seiya had a chance to hit him.

Seiya lingered on his balcony for another minute looking at the stars and smiling, just relishing in the fact that he had two great friends who can cheer him up no matter what. He walked to his bed and crawled under the satiny red sheets.

'I hope that your days are filled with happiness too, Odango'. He drifted off to sleep with that as his last thought.

The two suns shone brightly the next morning on Kinmouku. Sunlight shone into the marble throne room, creating a pale orange and yellow sheen within the room. At the end of the room, Kakyuu sat on an extravagant gold and red throne, facing her three most trusted senshi.

"Starlights, you are almost of age and it is tradition that the ruler bestows a gift upon her starlights."

The look of confusion on the Starlights' faces did not go unmissed by Princess Kakyuu.

"Traditionally, once the Starlights reach the age of adulthood, the rulers of Kinmouku would give them the present that their hearts desire the most. In a way, this present is also the ruler's way of thanking the Starlights for your dedication and service for all these years." She sighed softly as she continued, "My present to you, my Starlights…no my friends, is the gift of happiness and freedom. I know that the three of you have returned here because of your duties. You have given me and this planet so much from a young age that I now want you to follow your heart and choose your own paths for your future, whether it be staying here on Kinmouku or on another planet. I will allow you to keep your senshi abilities for now, but you will all leave in one week for 3 months to travel and experience free life before returning to me with an answer as to what you want to do for your future." As the Starlights started to protest, she raised her hand to silence them. She spoke with a gentle voice and a soft expression on her face, "Do not worry about me or the planet during these months. We have been at peace for quite some time and the new senshis are fully trained. Please, enjoy your time away."

The three Starlights smiled at their princess and bowed as she walked out of the room. She had known all along that her Starlights had missed Earth, so she had to find the right timing until she could grant them their happiness away from their duties. As she walked away, a tear slipped out the corner of her eye as she knew that when they returned in 3 months, they would be saying goodbye.

Fighter was lost in thought and Maker gazed absently at where the Princess had just walked out of. It was Healer who spoke up, "So uh, what should we do?"

"I think… I think I'll go back to Earth." Healer had expected this answer. She knew Maker really missed Mizuno Ami. No one on Kinmouku could provide her with enough intellectual challenges to interest her.

"Are you sure, Maker? I mean …" and she stopped because she couldn't think of a reason not to go back. She would never admit it, but she missed it there too. She missed the people who taught her how to have fun and be able to have a dream while being a soldier. And her mind suddenly popped to the one she missed the most… the crazy, loud, hyperactive blonde. She smirked at the thought of her. She knew then, that she would be returning to Earth as well.

Maker knew by her smirk that Healer would be coming with her. She slowly turned her head towards Fighter, expecting a huge grin at the thought of returning to Earth. Fighter however, had a frown.

'If I go back, would it be too difficult? But I can't not go back. Why do I have to go back? I have to go. What would I even go there for? I need to see if she's happy. It's not like it'll make a difference, I'm just a friend…"

The other two saw how she was struggling with herself and knew that it would be difficult for her to see her love in the arms of another, but they knew that it was what Fighter truly wanted deep down. Healer and Maker detransformed back to Yaten and Taiki. Yaten shrugged and smiled slightly at Taiki. Taiki gently placed a hand on Fighter's shoulder, bringing the latter back to reality.

"Fighter," his voice was gentle, "would you come to Earth with us? The three of us have been together for so long that I think it would be difficult for Yaten and me to adjust to life without you at this point. It would mean a lot to us." He hesitated then added, "And besides, I don't think I can deal with Yaten alone."

"Oi Taiki!" Yaten was impressed with Taiki until that comment. But the three of them still wore a smile.

Detransforming, Seiya slowly answered, "Ok. I'll come with you two" They stood smiling at each other for a second and until he spoke up again, "Thank you guys… for helping me decide"

They exited the throne room to prepare for their journey.

****Please review****


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: WARNING! I'm going to start the gross and gory stuff from this chapter so don't read if you're not comfortable with it (it's not too bad in this chapter… I'm just getting started here)  
And FYI – I won't describe what Miya actually looks like until later on otherwise it'll be too easy to guess who her parents are. But there's some hints along the way! Also, there will be 'flashbacks' of the future (If you watch Once Upon A Time on TV then you'll know how it works). These flashbacks will be written in **_**italicized**_** font.**

**Please enjoy this chapter!**

The sun peeked through the curtain of a small loft in Tokyo. There wasn't much in the room – only a small vanity, a bed, a closet, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Just the bare essentials. But that didn't bother its occupant. She didn't mind; in fact, she may not have even noticed that there isn't much in there. Miya had been up for hours for she couldn't sleep. Ever since _that day_, she has had constant nightmares and could not sleep for more than a few hours a day. She learned never to wake up screaming in fear of someone discovering her true identity back when she hid amidst the enemy back at home. Instead, ever since she was awake today, she took the time to look out the window and feel the warmth of the sun as it was rising. It had been a long time since Miya felt, or even seen, the sun. Her thoughts brought her back to _that day_, the day it all started…

_It was a beautiful sunny day as 9 years old Miya was walking back to the palace from the gardens with her parents after an early breakfast picnic. With a huge smile on her face, she held both their hands as she walked between them. This was the scene of a happy and loving family that everyone dreams of. It was a loving family, but not a perfect one as Miya's parents were always busy with their duties. But she was content knowing that they were trying to spend as much as time as they possibly could with her. And even if they were busy working, she always had an aunt or an uncle around to play with her. She loved them all. _

_As the family walked into the palace, the ground shook and explosions resonated within the palace walls. _

"_Miya." Her father kneeled to her level, "find Small Lady and hide with her. Your mother and I will find the others. When necessary, transform and fight. Otherwise, stay hidden alright? We love you sweetheart."_

_She had a feeling something bad was going to happen, but she brushed it off and bravely replied to her father "Hai."_

_Her mother and father swiftly kissed her on the cheek and ran down the hallway towards sound of explosion… it was the last time they would talk to each other. _

_Thinking that Small Lady was probably still in bed this early in the morning, Miya sprinted in the other direction and ran to the 5 year old princess's room hoping that she was ok. When she reached her destination, she noticed the door was wide open, so she cautiously approached it. There was no one there. The balcony window was open and she saw the city below. She gasped at the sight. _

_The city was destroyed.  
Buildings were destroyed as the Earth was split with huge cracks. Screams were heard as thousands upon thousands of grotesque figures were seen swooping over citizens and tearing them apart limb from limb, filling the air with the stench of blood. The figures seemed to have brought a cloud of darkness with them as the city grew darker and colder. Since then, the sun never shone upon Crystal Tokyo again. _

_Miya quickly turned around to leave to find Small Lady when something caught her eye. It was small pale blue orb with a large pink diamond embedded in the side facing forward; it was a decorative piece sitting in the corner of the room next to the door. Ever since their uncles tried (and failed for the umpteenth time) to borrow the Luna Ball for pranks against one another, Small Lady had made it a habit to hide the Luna Ball at night. Being her best friend, Small Lady had started putting the decorative orb in that corner to tell Miya that her Luna Ball was hidden. If the pink diamond facing outward, the Luna Ball was hidden; if the pink diamond was facing the wall, the Luna Ball would be out of its hiding place. It was in a secret place that only the 2 of them knew. Quickly glancing that no one was around, Miya dashed to a desk that was facing a window on the other side of the room. As a child, she was able to crawl behind the small space between the desk and the window. Making sure that she was completely covered by the curtains, she slid open a small hidden compartment located on the backside of the desk. She reached in for a small cat head, no larger than marble. She whispered to it "Small Lady is in trouble. Return to your original form so I can talk to Pluto"_

_POOF! It changed back to its original size and Miya proceeded to press its pink nose. _

"_Miya? Where is Small Lady? Is she alright?" It was the first time Miya had heard Pluto speak so frantically. _

"_I don't know. I'm about to go find her. But what's happening? Who's attacking us?"_

"_Someone seemed to have somehow blocked this future from me. Now that I know who is behind this mess, it makes sense how he knows how the Time Gates operates. But it is too late to talk about that now. You must stay by Small Lady and protect her. Use the Luna Ball to disguise yourself if you must. Find her and the other senshi. We will devise a plan from there. I must go now, they are trying to enter this dimension and contaminate the timeline. Good luck Miya."_

_Commanding the Luna Ball to turn into a stud earring, she fastened it to her ear and hurried out the door (after remembering to turn around the pink and blue orb by the door, in case Small Lady comes back). Concluding that if Small Lady was taken, the place they would take her to would be the grand hall since the thrones were situated there. She ran down the hall, hiding whenever she thought someone was approaching. Despite screams from outside the palace walls, the palace halls were relatively empty. When she reached the grand hall, she looked through the door that was opened slightly. The sight and the aura coming from within the grand hall almost made her gag. Hundreds of the black figures she had seen earlier on the streets had congregated inside. All of them looked like rotting corpses with grey and black skin twisting around its bodies – they were all in tattered long dark __robes, which were glistening with the crimson matter their victims had splattered onto them when they were torn to shreds. _ Their faces seemed as if it was scorched and was melting off. From beneath their hoods, she could see bright yellow unblinking eyes gleaming, and their mouths… their hollow mouths were permanently open, dripping blood onto their already blood-stained robes. No one had seen her so she crouched low as she entered the hall and hid behind the tapestries next to the door. Through all her midnight excursions with her favorite uncle, she knew the tapestries connected with one another along the hall. So she carefully sneaked, hidden behind the tapestries, all the way to front of the hall by the thrones where it seemed to be the center to focus. Her eyes bulged and started to tear up from the sight. 

_All the senshi were gathered there, chained and battle-worn, with these hooded figures holding them on the floor while they struggled. Tears were pouring down their faces and they stared at the body lying in front of them. _

_It was Jupiter.  
She was lying face down in a pool of her own blood with a sword pierced through her abdomen. Like most of the senshi, every inch of her skin was scratched and bruised. It seemed as if she was tortured as she fought, but given a quick death with the sword. Tragic as it may have seemed at the moment, Miya would soon realize that her Auntie Jupiter was the most fortunate with that fate. _

"_Always the head strong one" boomed a man's voice. It was followed by mad cackles around the hall. It died down as the voice spoke again, "My wraiths have taken over Crystal Tokyo and you senshi are now under my control."_

_The man, previously sitting on the throne so that Miya couldn't see, started to walk towards the senshi. She clamped her mouth when she saw who it was. It was -_

The church bell rang, bringing Miya out of her thoughts. It was time for her mission and this time, there was no room for error – everyone, dead or alive, was counting on her. She pinched the stud earring she wore and murmured inaudibly, "Luna P, transform me into a 17 year old attending Juuban High School". She glowed a faint white light and in an instant, she transformed.

Looking at herself in the vanity mirror, she was satisfied that she looked nothing like herself. She now had straight, black shoulder length hair with straight cut bangs across her forehead which framed her emerald green eyes. Obviously taller, her lean womanly figured fit beautifully into her school uniform. Miya doubled checked that any scars, especially the huge scar that use to run down from the right side of her torso to her leg, were all gone. Then she packed all the things she would need into her bag and left the house under the guise of Seito Naomi.

****Please Review****

**AN: The name 'Seito Naomi' has no meaning whatsoever to who Miya's parents are. I just grabbed it from random customers at work today!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! :)**

Usagi had surprisingly woken up early this morning. After her morning routine, she headed out to school with an hour to spare. The bright morning rays lifted added to her good mood. 'Today is going to be a good day' she thought. Humming as she walked, she was thinking about what to do after school with her friends since she was definitely not going to get detention today for being late.

So lost in her train of thought, she didn't pay attention when she turned a corner…

" … I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

After assessing the situation, the person who she bumped into replied to her question with her own question, "You're the one on the floor after we bumped and you ask me if I'm alright?"

Usagi was slightly irked by the stranger's question and it must've shown on her face as the stranger continued, "Oh I didn't mean it in a bad way. It just seems like I should be the one apologizing and asking if YOU'RE ok?" And she reached out her hand to help the fallen girl.

"I'm ok". Usagi smiled as she took the stranger's hand to get up. She noticed something and exclaimed loudly, "You're wearing Juuban High School's uniform! I've never seen you before. Are you a new student?"

"Yes. It's my first day today."

Usagi's face lit up, "Welcome! My name is Tsukino Usagi and I'm in Yr 3. Please to meet you!" She bowed when she finished introducing herself.

'Her smile… it's as close to genuine as I've ever seen it. But the warmth it brings is still just as incredible as before…'

"My name is Seito Naomi. Please to meet you too." A small smile broke the surface on her usual stoic and serious face. "May I walk with you to school, Tsukino-san?"

"Of course, Seito-san!" answered Usagi, who had no idea that this was no chance encounter. Naomi had watched and waited for Usagi this morning, waiting for the opportune moment to meet her on a more personal level rather than in class. She had thought about the risk of being late after remember Neo-Queen Serenity's tardiness to events, but still took a chance and it paid off.

So the pair walked to school together. They got to know one another quite well… or more accurately put, Usagi got to know the fake background to Naomi quite well. Nevertheless by the end of it, both girls were on a first-name basis and Usagi even invited Naomi to lunch later with her and her friends on the rooftop. Since she didn't know anyone else and it fitted her plan quite well, Naomi agreed. They parted ways as Naomi went to the principal's office and Usagi to class.

Entering class, she scanned the room for her friends and spotted Mizuno Ami and Kino Makoto. She bellowed, "Good morning, Ami-chan, Mako-chan!"

"Good morning Usagi-chan" they yelled back in song-like unison. All three girls giggled and they talked until class started – the main focus of their discussion was how late their other best friend, Aino Minako, was going to be for class today.

No sooner than when the bell rang that Minako burst in through the door. She earned a few giggles and laughter in the class, but was not considered late. When she sat down, the teacher introduced a new exchange student joining their class. Naomi walked in and scanned the room. She had to maintain her composure when she saw the Sol Senshi in her class. Even though she had convinced herself that she would be able to deal with her emotions, it was still had a huge impact on her when she saw their faces. Forcing herself, she refocused her attention when the teacher asked her to sit down; she noticed a few empty desks, and made haste to sit in the one by Usagi.

"Psst…I'm so glad you're in my class Naomi-chan!" Usagi whispered as soon as Naomi sat down.

"I am too Usagi-chan. I can't wait to meet your friends at lunch." Usagi nodded and the two remained quiet for the rest of the class.

Perhaps it was better that way as Naomi was so lost in her thoughts. Every so often, she would glance over at the people she recognized – the Sol Senshis. It was like she was trying to absorb in every detail of their untarnished faces. Her face remained impassive but she was completely heartbroken on the inside. It had been too long since she's seen everyone, but seeing them now was only bringing up memories of their broken bodies…

_Jupiter – lying in her own blood with a sword sticking out of her abdomen  
_

_Ami – her body sliced throughout as she lay dying, reaching out for the one she loves just before a wraith plunged into her chest to rip her heart out_

_Serenity – mutilated and violated while she laid on the floor of her room with no hope left in her eyes_

_Venus – waiting for death in a small pool of her blood… the gash across her stomach never to be repaired ever since -_

The bell rung for lunch. The girls headed up to the rooftop for lunch. Naomi took a moment to calm herself, reminding herself that none of it would happen if she succeeded with her mission.

On the rooftop, Naomi got along with everyone quite well. It helped that she already knew their personalities, their likes and dislikes, etc. But somehow, everything was just a little different. Maybe it was because they treated her as an equal as oppose to a 10 year old child, or maybe the girls were more 'naïve' in this period. But different was good for Naomi as it helped her realize that these people are not exactly the same people who she had left in the future.

The girls were quite surprised at how easily the new girl fit in, but thought nothing more of it as she seemed quite friendly.

The day dragged on, but Naomi found it easier to focus on class and her mission after reacquainting with her 'family'. When class ended, they invited her to their usual hang out at Fruits Crown Parlour and she met one of their other friends, Hino Rei.

_Mars –her clothes singed from her own fire attacks and bones broken to point that she couldn't even breathe without excruciating pain coursing throughout her body_

They started chatting to get to know Naomi better. After a while, the conversation soon digressed to what Mina loved to talk about most: boys.

She sighed, "I wish I could meet the perfect boy and have the perfect romance" Mina sighed dramatically again.

"What do you look for in a guy, Minako-san?" Naomi knew better than to ask, but thought it would be a logical follow-up question.

"WELL…" her eyes started sparkling as she took the bait to open up and explain, "I want a guy who is tall and muscular, but not too muscular. Just toned. He would have smooth, pale skin, fair long hair and beautiful shining eyes… green would be a good color for his eyes… Yes. Green eyes and long silver hair…" she trailed off like she was lost in her thoughts. The sparkle never left her eyes but she had lost her cheerful demeanour.

"Mina-chan, you still love Yaten-kun don't you?" Mako asked kindly. Her question hung in the air as no one dared speak. The girls had tried to avoid talking about any topics that surrounded the Three Lights ever since their departure. They were still upset over it, some more than others, and they would fall into silence if the boys were brought up.

"Who's Yaten?"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YATEN IS?" the group practically shouted in surprise.

Of course she knew. Naomi knew they were coming back in a week, but she had to act nonchalant in order to get the group to talk about them. "No. I just moved to Japan remember?"

Reluctantly at first, they started talking about the Three Lights, skipping the details about them being the Starlights. It was difficult for them but by talking about it, the girls remembered all the fun times they had with the boys. It helped them realize that although they were gone, they had fun and created a lot of good memories with great friends…friends they would never forget.

Although the stories were fascinating, Naomi's real goal in the topic was to gauge everyone's reactions.

Mina was becoming increasingly hyper. Naomi already knew she was in love with Yaten the way she described him before.

Mako was happily talking about the concerts and their friendships

Rei mostly listened and observed her friends. She would join in on the conversation occasionally.

Ami was also simply chatting about the Three Lights, but her cheeks had a slight pink tinge to it when she heard the name 'Taiki'.

Usagi's face was difficult to read. She didn't look happy or sad. She just looked a little… lost. The usually cheerful girl remained quiet while she just stared at her ice cream.

It had been a while since they openly talked about the Three Lights. At first, Usagi was happy that they were able to return home with their Princess. But after a while, the thought of never seeing or being able to contact the three of them again made her a little sad. She had a special relationship with Seiya. He would always drop everything he had to do just for her and he never backed down from his promise to protect her. She didn't know how he knew when she was sad, but he did and he always found a way to cheer her up whether it be teasing her or finding something fun to do. Seiya understood her more than anyone. She knew that her friends and her Mamo-chan were there for her too, but it was different with Seiya. It was a different kind of connection she had with him. She had no idea what it was but she just felt at ease with him.

* * *

They continued to talk and eat and after a while, the girls left. Naomi walked home with Usagi since they found out they live pretty close to each other. Pluto had arranged it so that Naomi could be close to Usagi at all times. It would give them more time to bond and when necessary, Naomi could reach her quickly to protect her.

"Usagi-chan? Are you alright? You haven't spoken much."

"Oh sorry Naomi-chan. I'm ok. Just thinking about things."

"Why don't you tell me about it? It always helps when someone is there to listen to you. I know we haven't met for a long time, but maybe that's what you need. Someone who doesn't know everything about you to lend you an ear and not judge you from what you have to say." Naomi smiled at her. Her explanation didn't really make sense when she thought about it, but she knew it was what Usagi needed. She needed someone who didn't know her past and destined future. That way, they won't chastise her about her feelings.

Naomi's words hit Usagi spot-on. Usagi didn't think much about how she had said it since she was just grateful that someone was willing to listen to her with an open-mind.

So she started talking about her relationship with Mamoru and how she loved him very much and how they were going to have a future together (Naomi cringed on the inside when she heard this because she knew the future Usagi was dreaming of will end in disaster). She talked a lot about Mamoru and how he is in university right now, so she doesn't see him as much due to his heavy course load. She continued to talk about how he had left for university the year before and how he had gotten 'lost' so she lost contact but had a special friend, Seiya, to help her through this difficult time. She then got to the part when Seiya left.

"He left because he had to go back home and Mamoru came back to me. I know everything is back to normal, but it just doesn't feel like it use to. It's difficult to explain because there's nothing wrong with my life and I just didn't want to cause any problems by telling any of the other girls or even Mamo-chan."

Naomi took the time to absorb the information and proceeded carefully, "Do you feel like you're missing something?"

Usagi frowned slightly, thinking about the question then nodded.

"Do you feel that your life is incomplete without… Seiya-san?"

Usagi stopped abruptly. She had never even considered this point. She thought she was happy knowing that Seiya was back on his home planet and having Mamoru back was everything she needed. She had never stopped to even think about what she wanted... And what she actually wanted is to see Seiya. But why did she feel this way?

"Why do you ask that? He is just a friend and he seemed happy when he left. I can't be selfish to keep him here with me."

Naomi noticed that Usagi did not deny the fact that her life was incomplete without him.

"Usagi-chan" Naomi placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder and smiled kindly at her, "I don't think you're being selfish for wanting him here with you. From what I've heard, he cares about you a great deal too, probably more than you know. Maybe he wanted to be by your side too but he probably also thought you were happy with your boyfriend and friends that he no longer has place in your heart."

"He'll always have a place in my heart"

"Have you ever told him that? I think that a person should never be embarrassed about expressing their true feelings. Even if the other person may reject you, at least you tried and you'll live without regretting never telling him." At one point in her 10 years of life, Naomi would have taken her own advice. But she no longer believed it. She learned to keep everything to herself now. More than anything, she just wanted to come right out and just tell Usagi to be with Seiya, but she can't. She had to let Usagi realize it on her own.

"But I have Mamo-chan…" her voice was laced with uncertainty.

"Your boyfriend sounds like a nice guy and I can't say for sure that you'll be happier with Seiya-san by your side. But I know that you need to look beyond what is normal for you because you just told me that normal isn't working for you anymore. Maybe what you thought is right for you really isn't…" she trailed off to let her think about this.

Usagi frowned and pondered on this point for a moment and started to speak again, "I…"

"Sorry! I know you probably didn't want for my opinion. But you're my friend and I just want to see you happy. I just… I just thought you could need an outsider's point of view." Naomi pretended to look concerned. It was true that she hated seeing Usagi so upset over the matter but she wasn't sorry about it. In fact, she was glad she said it and that it got the other girl to think about her feelings. It was partially true that Naomi wanted Usagi to be happy by following her heart, but Naomi's opinion was also heavily swayed on the fact that she knew what would happen if the queen continued to follow her predetermined destiny.

Seeing that the Naomi was so crestfallen after trying to help, Usagi quickly brightened up, "Oh no no… don't be sorry! You're a great friend for offering and I'll really think about what you've told me. It's just difficult to explain the entire situation. I'm glad that you want to help me though! I could never bring it up in front of the other girls. I'm more confused now but I do feel better sharing it with you!"

They continued walking for a short distance until they reached Usagi's house. Before she opened the gate, Naomi grabbed her hand. "Usagi-chan," her face was serious, "I want you to know that I will be here for you if you ever need someone to talk to about anything."

Shocked by her gesture, Usagi was nevertheless touched, "Thank you, Naomi-chan. I really appreciate it."

She released her hand and said goodbye, heading back to her apartment.

At night, Usagi stood on her balcony looking at the stars again. She thought about what she discussed with Naomi. She was happy that she could share her feelings with her new friend, thinking that Naomi's opinion was one that was not biased from her past in the Silver Millennium or the future of Crystal Tokyo. It was something her Sol Senshi friends could not provide as they were a part the matter. She knew it was a wasted effort on Naomi's part, but appreciated it nonetheless.

'Her opinion,' she thought, 'is one that is based on my heart.'

****Please review!****


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: T****hanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy the new chapter! **

The week went by quickly and Naomi and Usagi walked to and from school together everyday. They usually chatted about random things, but Naomi would often subtly bring up Usagi's problems again. Usagi could now admit to herself that she missed Seiya. She didn't feel as guilty about missing another guy when she has a boyfriend because she has a friend who wouldn't judge her. But all her thoughts ended the same – he would never come back, she loved Mamoru, and she knew she would have Chibi-Usa while living in Crystal Tokyo. She could never give up her love for Mamoru and especially her love for her future daughter.

The day the Starlights were returning had finally arrived. Naomi was having mixed emotions about it. There was no doubt in her mind that she had to do it, but still…it was a huge responsibility, something that a child her age should not have to bear. Her left hand absently glided over the right side of her torso, where the start of her scar would be if she was in her real body. When she realized where her hand was placed, it reminded her of what had happened.

_She was hiding with Small Lady, who accidentally sobbed. They heard her and headed in their direction. Miya told Small Lady to be quiet then jumped out herself in order to distract the enemy. She saw a shine reflect off a sword and jumped to a side to dodge it but she was too slow. It caught her deep in her stomach. Her flesh was ripped away, all the way down to her ankle as the sword pulled away. She was left to die. _

'I have no time to worry about useless things. I need to focus on the mission. I'm doing this for everyone… for their future. I am a Sailor senshi, I have a mission to complete and I'll do no matter what it takes… ' And with that, she pushed aside all her emotions, focusing solely on how she was to accomplish her goal. The past year of horror had changed her so much that the mission became a sort of… obsession for her.

_She had to harden heart, knowing that the only way to save her loved ones was to wait and change their past. And if she ever had the chance, kill the man responsible for all of this. Auntie Pluto was against this idea whenever they secretly met to plan, claiming that the wraiths were always hidden in the shadows to protect him; she would be dead the moment they realized that she wanted to hurt him. This explanation was true, but what Pluto didn't mention to the girl was that she wanted to savage whatever was left of Miya's innocence which included her killing another person. Miya, however young, had already lost the luxury of being innocent. She had been forced to grow up in such circumstances. She watched everyday, as her loved ones were tortured for the wraiths' twisted pleasures, filling the palace halls with their screams. She wanted to help them but she couldn't risk being found. She was forced to watch them lose hope each passing day. It broke her. And she became… obsessed. Obsessed with rescuing everyone, she was willing to do anything..._

With reaffirmed determination, she went to pick up Usagi like she did for the past week. As she approached her house, she saw that someone was leaning against her gate also waiting for her. Upon closer inspection, she recognized the midnight-blue haired man with the long ponytail. Holding herself back from hugging him like she use to do, she smiled and calmly spoke to him, "Good morning, are you waiting for Usagi-san too?"

Seiya raised an eyebrow at the stranger, "Yes. Who are you?"

"I'm her friend, Seito Naomi. I just moved here. Pleased to meet you." Before he could say his name, she quickly added, "Oh, are you her boyfriend?" She didn't want to hear his name since she already knew Usagi's boyfriend's name is Mamoru. It would seem suspicious if anyone asked.

"Huh?" he was thrown off by her question. 'How does she not know I am? Why does she think I'm the boyfriend?'

When he hesitated, she quickly said, "Aww how sweet of you to pick up your girlfriend! I'm going to leave to give you lovebirds some time alone. Tell her I left for school already ok?" she winked at him and left.

Seiya just stood looking at her walk away. He didn't know what to think about what just happened. His thoughts were interrupted when his beloved Odango came out.

"Good morning Nao… EH SEIYA!"

"Good morning, O-dan-go" Seiya teased. Even after a year, he realized he still loved her just as much. He was so convinced (when he was back at home) that he had moved on. But when he arrived on Earth, all he wanted to do is to see her. And now seeing her and feeling her light, he knew he was still madly in love with her. "Did you miss me?" he walked closer to her and leaned down to her ear, gently brushing her earlobe as he spoke, "because I missed you." He knew he shouldn't flirt, but he couldn't help it. She was irresistible and he just couldn't stop himself.

She turned bright red. The sight of him, the touch of his lips on her ear, and the tingle from his breath on her neck excited her and she was lost for words. He grinned at how he was affecting her, "I take it you missed me too. But who wouldn't miss such a good-looking guy." He brushed his hair with a pose.

It snapped her back to reality, "Who would want to miss you!?" Usagi pouted and crossed her arms. She would never tell him she missed him a lot after his teasing. She smiled. Simply seeing him made her happy… happier than she'd ever been for the past year. He was her best friend who gave her hope and support when she needed it most and she loved him for that… she loves him as a friend. Or so she believes.

Patting the buns on her head, "Ne, let's go. We're going to be late for school." She nodded and the two walked to school. She forgot about her regular walks to school with Naomi at the sight of Seiya just like he had forgotten to tell her that Naomi had already went to school ahead of them. They were too busy catching up, which included why they were back on Earth.

When they reached their school, he headed to the principal's office and she went to class. She entered class and saw Naomi sitting in class smiling slyly, Usagi quickly ran up to her.

"AH! Sorry Naomi-chan, I forgot to walk with you to school!"

Naomi giggled, "It's ok Usagi-chan. I know you want to spend some time with your boyfriend. He's more handsome than I imagined!"

Usagi stammered while she answered. "Th-That was Seiya. He's just a fr-friend! Eh wait, when did you see him?"

Completely ignoring the first part, "Oh this morning. Guess he forgot to mention it probably because you guys were too… preoccupied…" and she winked at her and smirked.

Blushing, "Mou… what are you talking about Naomi-chan. It wasn't like that… We were just catching up". After a few more teasing from Naomi, Usagi went into greater detail about how she met Seiya and how he was before he left (skipping out all the senshi business). She was glad that Naomi never once judged her for having such a close relationship with another guy when she had a boyfriend. In fact, the girl seemed happy for her. Talking and thinking about Seiya while having someone be happy for her because of it made Usagi feel the comfort that was lacking when she was with her other friends or Mamoru.

Everytime they talked about Seiya, Naomi noticed how happy Usagi had become. She even noticed the twinkle in her eyes; she never noticed it this past week and certainly not when she was Neo Queen Serenity. Yes, the queen was always smiling, but her eyes never twinkled as they are now in Usagi. She had to wonder, 'Did the happy memories of Seiya cause this?'  
In the future, she knew that the power of the silver crystal was related to the queen's well-being – the warmth and power it provided when she was truly happy was simply… amazing. Naomi had only felt it once in her lifetime; it was when Small Lady was born. 'If she is happy to the point that her eyes twinkle, how powerful would the Silver Crystal be?' Right now, she could only imagine how much stronger it would feel if Usagi ended up with Seiya… 'Would we have lost if she followed her heart and had Seiya by her side instead?"

Class had started and not surprisingly, the Three Lights was in the girl's class again. There were still lots of screaming from fan girls as the boys were still fairly popular. Seiya looked for a desk near Usagi's. His smile dropped and he sighed ever so gently when he found none. Naomi, who was observing the Light very carefully, noticed Seiya's change in attitude. When he walked past Usagi's desk, she her him whispered, "Guess I won't be able to tease you in class this year Odango" he smiled weakly and headed to the back of the class to sit in an empty spot next to Taiki. Naomi then understood that he wanted a desk close to Usagi. An idea popped into her head and she couldn't wait to execute it.

Yaten saw an empty spot next to Minako, and huffed, "Guess I don't have a choice again" and went to sit down next to her much to her surprise. She squealed and tried to grab his arm when he sat down but he had enough experience to quickly lean back and dodge the oncoming blonde, causing her to fall right on to his lap. She blushed furiously and quickly sat up whilst apologizing; he, on the other hand, placed a hand on his face and shook his head. It seemed as if he was annoyed, but he was really just trying to hide the silly grin on his face.

Taiki, upon entered class, had immediately spotted two empty desks at the back of the class behind Ami and Mako (they sat next to each other). He made haste to take the seat directly behind the resident genius; he leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "I love a challenge". He watched her go bright red and smirked at his handiwork before leaning back to sit comfortably. Although Ami was wondering what he meant by a 'challenge', she was too flustered to ask.

At lunch, Taiki explained how they had arrived early that morning and how he contacted the school about their enrollment. They were able to quickly squeeze them in as the boys already had student files there. The boys were curious about their new friend, Naomi. It was awkward for the group since they really wanted to talk openly and catch up, but Usagi insisted on her coming to lunch today to meet the boys. She wanted her to know them better and feel welcomed in her group.

* * *

At the end of the day, Seiya offered to walk Usagi home. This time, she remembered Naomi and said that he could walk both of them home since she felt bad about forgetting Naomi that morning. Usagi didn't realize how disappointed this had made him, but then again, she was always a little dense. Naomi, however, noticed he was disappointed. She really didn't want to be a third-wheel, but she wanted a chance to talk to Seiya alone once they dropped off Usagi. So the three walked, laughing and talking, until they reached Usagi's house. Naomi pretended to get a phone call and walked a little ways away as to give them some privacy, making sure her back was to them.

"I'm really glad I could see you again Odango"

"Me too! I'm so happy you're back!"

"Can I take you out for ice cream tomorrow after school so we could catch up?" he was positively nervous about asking her. But his nervousness quickly dissipated when he saw the huge smile on her face become upon hearing his request. He wasn't entirely sure if she was happy because of the ice cream or because he asked, but he was happy that she was happy.

"I'd love that!"

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow at school then. See you Odango!" he bent down a little, swiftly took her hand and kissed it. He really wanted to give her a proper goodbye kiss, but she had a boyfriend and it would be inappropriate. So he settled for her smooth soft hand. He knew the hand was the safest place since he could pass it off as some sort of European gesture. But he didn't need to use that excuse. He was surprised when she didn't yell at him or even snatch her hand back, letting him continue holding on to it after the kiss. Standing straight again, he saw that she was blushing. She just managed to say a quick "bye" back to him. Neither of them made any indication on moving after that though. Both of them were blushing as they looked into each other's eyes. He was mesmerized by her big bright cerulean blue eyes and she couldn't tear away from his midnight blue eyes that sparkled in the sunlight.

Naomi glanced at them. She saw how they were looking at each other and realized that they truly love one another. She smiled at the scene. But the more looked at them, the more frustrated she got. It bothered her that Usagi couldn't just come right out and admit her feelings for the one her heart is screaming for. Yes, Usagi does love Mamoru, but it was so obvious that she loves Seiya more. Pluto had already told Naomi that Usagi had a destiny to follow and that she stayed with Mamoru for Chibi-Usa's sake. But still, Naomi was frustrated about it. 'If only I could tell her the truth…'

She was pulled out of her thoughts as a red sports car pulled up and caught the couple's attention and they jumped apart. A tall man, with black hair and a green blazer stepped out of the car, holding a dozen roses. It was Mamoru. 'Endymion…' Naomi thought. He approached the two and greeted them. As he did, he gave Usagi the roses. He was courteous not to show too much affection in front of Seiya since he knew of his feelings for his girlfriend. Mamoru was a kind man. He knew that Seiya is an important friend to his Usako so he didn't want to do anything to offend him. But Seiya was still upset. The sight of Mamoru reminded him that she had rejected him for her boyfriend. Nevertheless, the two guys were civil with each other and shook hands. Before Mamoru could ask Seiya any questions, Naomi jumped in.

"You must be Chiba-san. I've heard so much about you. Nice to finally meet you! I'm Seito Naomi. I'm in the same class as these two. Seiya-san was just walking us home!" Without another moment to lose, she started to drag Seiya away. Mamoru chuckled slightly and waved to her as the two left. As they were leaving, she heard him talk say to Usagi, "Sorry I couldn't spend a lot of time with you Usako. School has been really busy, but I stopped by to see how you were doing."

* * *

Down the road, while walking in silence, Naomi saw out of the corner of her eye that Seiya was frowning, lost in his thoughts. She broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I had to drag you out of there, but you just looked so sad seeing them together." She meant every word she just said.

"No, don't be sorry. I'm glad you did." He stopped walking and bit his lip as he tried to talk again, "I-I just…"

"I know. You're upset because you love her a lot but she has a boyfriend." She was glad to see that she was correct when he nodded. She continued, "I happen to know that she is confused about how she feels about you."

No matter how much he wanted to believe that Usagi had some sort of feeling for him, he had to face the truth, "You're wrong. She has a boyfriend and she just thinks I'm a friend. You must have misunderstood her."

"I said SHE was confused, not me. I talk to her a lot and I can actually see that she is much happier when she talks about you. There's something holding her back from admitting the truth that she feels more than friendship when it comes to you."

He couldn't believe it. 'Could she actually love me? Could I open myself up just to be rejected again?'  
Before he could stop himself, he asked, "What's holding her back?"

"Why don't you ask her? I know she'll tell you because she said you guys don't keep secrets." When she saw that he had no response, she admitted, "I'm trying to help you guys get together."

"Why?" he asked abruptly. He was curious why this _stranger_ was willing to help him.

"I know I just met her, but she's my first friend here and I want to see her happy and that means being with you. Her other friends seem to be good friends with Chiba-san too so she thinks they'll judge her about her feelings regarding you. It's starting to make her uncomfortable around them. Since I don't know you or Chiba-san very well, I'm just focused on Usagi-chan's happiness, nothing else." She didn't really think she needed to waste any more time explaining the situation so she just straight to the point, "I know you want to win her heart but I can sense that you don't' like to ask for help. Remember, I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing this for Usagi. And besides, I didn't think you were the type of guy who gives up easily on anything. Are you willing to help me or are you going to give up on your love Seiya-san?"

He stood there speechless. 'This girl is kind of crazy. But I want to believe what she's saying. Maybe with her help, I can win her heart. It does sound promising when someone is willing to help me.'

She had him. She knew how to motivate him, knew which buttons to press. She always had a way to get him to do what she wanted back in the day so she trusted that he would agree with her plans. She didn't mind telling him about trying to set them up because, seeing how stubborn Usagi can be, it might be easier if he knew about it too. She had to admit that even though it was part of her mission, she liked the idea of hanging out with Seiya again. It had always been fun.

"Alright! Let's do this!" his eyes glinted wildly and he grinned at her.

Naomi smiled a real smile and she started talking about what she had in mind.

And so, 'Operation Catch the Bunny' commences.

****Please review****


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Thought I'd post another chapter today :) Enjoy!**

Naomi shot open her eyes the next morning. It was stood out brightly in her dark room. She slowly started sitting up on her bed; her eyes were unblinking and alert. Her face showed that she was calm, but her eyes betrayed her. She was scared.

She had only gotten 2 hours of sleep last night before waking up. She was too worried to even feel tired. It wasn't a nightmare that woke her up this time though. This time, she felt that something bad was going to happen… and it was going to happen soon. The feeling was so strong that it woke her up. She wanted to ask Pluto for advice but with no hard evidence, she figured the time senshi will tell her not to worry about it for now. Naomi slipped out of bed and prepared to go out even though the sun hadn't even risen yet. She left her apartment and headed towards Usagi's house. She figured that she would be there to keep an eye on her and protect her if something was coming.

When she arrived, she hid in a tree across the street and looked around for any signs of unusual activity. She found none. So she resorted to guarding the house while thinking of the mission and devising new ways to counter the enemy. Unknowingly to anyone else, she had let her minicomputer scan constantly in her pocket when she was hidden as a wraith and it collected a lot of data. Before she came here, she didn't have enough time to just sit and sift through the data. However during the sleepless hours of the night this week, she had looked through it all. She needed to find a weakness. She hadn't found anything particularly useful. The only way wraiths could be destroyed is by pure light of the Silver Crystal, which she already knew. Other attacks, if it even hit the wraiths, simply seemed to just hold them back momentarily, never destroying them. Naomi had concluded that the power of the Silver Crystal needed to be boosted somehow. She knew that Usagi's love for Seiya was stronger than her love for Mamoru and it would help tremendously with the crystal's powers. But Naomi needed a backup plan in case things didn't work out. So she sat there until the sun rose, thinking of ways to attack the wraiths and other ways to boost the power of the Silver Crystal.

After the sun had risen for a while, she saw Seiya approach Usagi's house. So she slipped quietly out of the tree and headed to school, knowing that Usagi would be protected.

Seiya and Naomi had thought of some small things to do to try and get Usagi to confess her feelings and it started with switching desks. Naomi arrived to school early to catch the teacher in his office and explained why she wanted to switch desks with Seiya. He agreed. She walked to the back of the class and settled in her new chair. Ami, Taiki, and Makoto were already seated and chatting away. They were all confused when she sat down at 'Seiya's' desk. They asked her about it. Naomi knew that Taiki would help Seiya win Usagi over if she told him their plan, but she wasn't sure how Ami and Makoto would react. So she simply said, "Seiya-san asked to switch with me." She changed the subject and asked how their morning was. Makoto woke up early to cook. Naomi smiled, remembering all the delicious food she had made back in Crystal Tokyo. Turning to Ami and Taiki, they blushed. Taiki had been walking with Ami to school everyday and they would have a 'study date' before class. They continued talking about themselves since Naomi wanted to know more about them. After a while, the three friends found that they didn't mind opening up and sharing with their new friend because she didn't tease them about anything. Instead, she just seemed eager in knowing all about them.

Naomi was just happy that she could casually talk to them again that she had forgotten about why she was here. Ever since their untimely deaths, she had thought she would never be able to just sit and chat with them again… with any one of them. She let her guard down a little and the burden that was in her heart dissipated temporarily. It had been a long time since she felt this relaxed…

Her comfort was short lived as the bell rang. Seiya and Usagi, thundered into class. She smiled and nodded at him as he looked at her. The gesture was returned and he sat down next to Usagi.

"Why are you sitting here?" Usagi exclaimed.

The teacher heard her and answered, "Seiya-san has asked to switch seats with Seito-san so he could see the board better. Seiya-san you should think about getting glasses. Now pay attention, I'm starting class." It earned quite a few giggles in class and she blushed. Seiya faced Usagi, smiling slyly and winked at her. Taiki had sighed and shook his head while pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed, disapproving of his friend's shameless methods. Yaten grinned and coughed into his fist while calling saying "baka". Seiya obviously heard this and shot him a glare.

* * *

At the end of the day, Seiya grabbed Usagi away from the group to have their 'date'. Naomi had convinced him not to take her for ice cream at Fruits Crown Parlour in case they ran into someone they knew who would interrupt them. What either of them didn't know was that Naomi (using the Luna Ball's magic again) had transformed herself into another girl to follow them at a respectable distance. She was there in hopes of distracting anyone who she thought might try and interrupt the couple.

The couple had been walking in a comfortable silence for some time. Seiya glanced at Usagi and noticed that she was blushing slightly while she walked staring at the floor, clearly lost in her own thoughts.

"Odango, why are you so quiet?" he waited until she looked at him, "I guess it's expected since my good looks leaves all the girls speechless." He smirked.

"Who said I was thinking about you? I'm just excited about my ice cream!" and pouted as she continued to walk. She lied. She was wondering why she felt peaceful when she was with him and not when she was with other people. 'This feeling when I'm with him warms my heart. It's almost like when I look at the stars. It's peaceful and it makes me feel safe. It makes sense that I feel this way because he's technically a star. But then, why don't I get that feeling around Yaten or Taiki. Do I look at the stars because it reminds me of him? Oh my gosh! Am I in lov...'

Her thoughts were interrupted again, but this time it was because someone was running and accidentally pushed her. Seiya had caught her in his arms. She raised her head met his dark blue eyes. His intense gaze made her feel like he was staring right into her soul. Her heart was beating so loudly that she thought he might hear it. Unknown to her, his heart was fluttering like mad as well. Their eyes continued to be locked. Gradually, her mind shut off the same way it usually does when she looked at the stars. Her body then started to move involuntarily. Her eyes were closing as she leaned in closer to his face. He saw her lean forward and couldn't believe it. 'She wants to k-kiss me?!' He inched forward slightly thinking that this was too good to be true. He was still holding her in his arms as their faces were now close enough for him to feel her breath on his skin.

'She smells like strawberries.'

A moment later, they heard screaming in the distance. Breaking apart, they quickly ran towards it. They didn't even have time to feel their disappointment about losing their moment for a first kiss… they just ran. Being a soldier and protecting the world was what was most important to them at this point. But what they saw next may even be too much for them to bear… It made them sick to their stomach.

* * *

Earlier, Naomi was quietly following behind the unsuspecting couple when she felt it. After spending a year amongst them, she could never forget the aura that surrounded them. And even after a year, it was a sickening dark aura. She sensed that the aura was weak this time. Weak but unmistakable... it was a wraith. 'This is not suppose to happen. They're not suppose to be here in the past.' Without a moment's hesitation, she ran down the street still in her disguise. She accidentally pushed Usagi out of her way. She hoped that she would get there and deal with it before anyone noticed. Using the minicomputer, she tracked the wraith to the park. She hid behind some bushes to transform into a sailor senshi and prepared for the fight.

****Please review****


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! I really can't express how much it means to me with your continued support! :) Hope you like this new chapter!**

Miya, back in her original body, had transformed into a sailor senshi. Her uniform was similar to that of the Sol Senshi; it was pale azure and the broach was a pale grey star. Her boots and gloves did a poor job of hiding the multiple scars that stood out in the light. That is, if there was light. The wraith's appearance had darkened the once bright sky.

She fired an attack at the wraith before jumping out of the bush. Not surprising to her, it started to suck the attack into its mouth. She tried to quickly jump behind it, hoping it to hit the wraith from behind. Through her hours of research, Miya discovered the wraiths' potential weakness. Their main weapon was their mouth. They used it to suck up any attacks heading their direction and then fire it back. The creatures can only be hurt if they could not absorb the attack, which meant its mouth had to be occupied or they had to be attacked from behind. Miya planned to somehow immobilize it and then contact Pluto to send it back to the future. With no means of destroying a wraith without the Silver Crystal, sending it back to the future was the only option to avoid exposing the senshis to these creatures. She had to deal with it before anyone found out.

However, Miya was too slow and the wraith had already blasted the attack back at her. She was thrown against the tree behind the bushes. Her back and head hit the trunk and she landed on the ground with a loud thud, knocking her out for a minute. But that was all the wraith needed before it grabbed an unsuspecting person who wandered into the park. The man screamed. It was then that Miya actually saw how wraiths were created. She had never seen it before since there were already thousands of it in the future so it wasn't necessary for them to create more. The wraith started sucking the air making an eerie rattling noise and seconds later, the victim started trembling and choking on what was being forced out through their mouth. A slimy, transparent grey matter was steadily floating out of his mouth and the wraith sucked that into its own mouth. It continued to consume it until no more came out. The victim went limp. The wraith then violently flung the poor victim to the side, where he hit the metal railing surrounding the pond. A loud crack rang through the air. His spine had snapped – he was dead. Then for the first time that Miya had seen, the wraith's thin lips snapped shut, closing its mouth. It appeared as if it was …chewing… what it had consumed.

As she was about to jump out to attack again, Miya heard Sailor Moon's voice. It stopped her in her tracks and she remained hidden in the bushes.

"How dare you come and ruin a peaceful day and take away the warm sunlight! In the name of the moon..." The wraith paid her no attention. But she couldn't continue anyways because what she was seeing was so revolting, it made her want to gag. Her eyes bulged at such a monstrous thing. Just the mere sight of its grotesque body, unblinking yellow eyes, and its blood soaked clothing was enough to scare anyone. But the wraith had finally opened its mouth and something black started to poke out of it. Its mouth got wider and wider as the _thing_ got larger and larger.

"STAR SERIOUS LASER"

Fighter had blasted at the monster and it stumbled back with the thing still hang out of its mouth. Noticing this, Miya quickly contacted Pluto and told her to tell Sailor Moon that wraiths can only be destroyed by the Silver Crystal's light. She shut off her computer and fired another attack from behind the bushes. As she was doing so, she heard Fighter yell her attack again and Sailor Moon's communicator beep. Both her and Fighter's attacks collided with the creature. The attacks froze the wraith. They could now clearly see that the thing coming out of its mouth was a second wraith; its head and upper body was hanging out of the other's mouth. A pool of black slime was forming on the ground as it dripped from the half-emerged wraith's body. It continued to drip even though it was frozen in that position.

Pluto had immediately contacted Sailor Moon and told her what she needed to do. With the new information, Sailor Moon used her Silver Crystal and the bright light engulfed the creatures. They exploded into dust with a loud, ear-splitting shriek.

Once the wraiths were destroyed, Fighter immediately ran to where he saw the second attack originated. When she was firing her own attack, she had seen from the corner of her eye that someone had also attacked from within the bushes. But when she went to check, there was no one there. By then, Miya had already run down the street. She knew they would go looking for the person who helped them and they would have questions for her – questions she could not answer yet. So she ran as quickly as she can despite the pain from her back. There was no doubt that she would have a huge bruise there. She ran into an alley and transformed back into Naomi and slowly walked home.

Sailor Moon and Fighter detransformed. Usagi looked a tired after so Seiya sat her down on a bench, his arms wrapped around her shoulder.

"We need to gather the senshi and have a meeting." She looked at Seiya and he nodded in agreement. He took his arms away from her shoulder as she opened her communicator again to contact all the senshi and Mamoru. Seiya called Yaten and Taiki. They told everyone that there was to be a meeting later tonight at Hikawa Shrine. It had been a year since they all met up for senshi business since there had been no evil during that time. It worried them that the peace they had received had been broken again.

Pluto received the message to meet. She hadn't told Usagi that she wasn't going to show up yet and there was something she needed to figure out, so she contacted her again.

"Princess, I cannot leave the Time Gates unattended right now. I will not be meeting with you guys." She said in her usual emotionless demeanor.

"But we need you here. You seem to know what happened so you need to explain it to us." She pleaded.

"I'm sorry Princess. But tell me everything that happened."

Usagi started with what happened when she and Seiya had arrived. She told Pluto about seeing the wraiths and how it was creating another one. She shuddered when she remembered what she saw so Seiya stepped up and continued for her. He told her how someone else had attacked the creatures with him and that Sailor Moon destroyed it with the Silver Crystal when the creature stopped moving.

Pluto got the information she needed and spoke again, "Did you see who helped you?" They both replied no to Pluto's relieve. "These creatures are called wraiths and as I've told you, they can only be destroyed by the Silver Crystal but only when they are immobilized."

"Why are they here? Who helped us?" Usagi knew that the Time senshi could only tell them so much, but she still had to ask.

"I cannot tell you that." She hesitated for a second, "Princess, Seiya-san are you two the only ones that were there when you fought?"

"Yes" they both answered.

"May I ask you to keep quiet about seeing someone help you in the fight? For now, please do not tell the other senshi about it."

The couple looked at each other, concerned about her request.

"Why can't we tell the other? If it helps protect Earth then we must share everything we know."

"Princess," she sighed, "I cannot tell you why. But I can assure you that this person is only there to help you. You should not have even known that she was there. But given the circumstances, I can only ask that you do not go looking for her and that you keep quiet about it." This was the only way Pluto can protect Miya. She had to remain hidden from everyone. Pluto could only find a small comfort in knowing that it was Seiya and Usagi who witnessed her attacks and not anyone else. "Please Princess. No one can know."

Seeing her pleas and with her assurance that the mysterious person is there to help them, they both agreed.

"Thank you both. I must go now. Be careful." And with that, Usagi's communicator turned blank.

"Pluto is always so mysterious. Who do you think helped us Seiya?" Usagi asked.

"Who knows… I hope she's not wrong about her being on our side though."

They started to get up from the bench to leave for the Shrine but Usagi had stumbled a little when she was getting up. Seiya immediately grabbed her shoulder again to help her. Her body relaxed with his arms around her and she leaned her head ever so slightly on his shoulder. He felt her do all this and was glad that she was comfortable around him. And so they walked like this, his grip tightened a little whenever she stumbled from exhaustion. Not many words were exchanged between the two of them, but they didn't mind. Right now, being around each other was enough for them. As they approached the shrine, he reluctantly let her go. They both knew that her friends would judge her if they saw her arms around her, not to mention her boyfriend was going to be there too. So they walked up the stairs, apart from each other, in silence.

****Please Review****


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hey! I'm doing a lot of editing these days so everything will make sense in the end.. so might not update AS frequently (don't worry, I promise this story will be finished)**

**OH and i totally forgot to mention it before, but I won't be using a senshi name for Miya until she reveals herself.  
**

**I know I say this all the time but once again - Thanks for the reviews and I hope you like this new chapter!  
**

* * *

"What happened?"

Seiya and Usagi wanted to wait until everyone had arrived before answering any questions, but they were still bombarded with questions by the people who had already arrived. The first ones at Hikawa Shrine were the Guardian Senshi and the Starlights. Seiya and Usagi were thankful that they did not question them as to what they were doing before the attack.

The Outer senshi, with the exception of Pluto, arrived a little later. They wanted to ask why the Starlights were back on Earth but thought that friendly greetings were in order first. Even Haruka had the manners to greet them, although her eyebrow was clearly still twitching with slight discomfort from being friendly with outsiders. Her partner, Michiru, noticed and giggled. Nevertheless, she was proud that Haruka made an effort to be friendly. Hotaru greeted everyone with a big smile and gave everyone a hug. They bore them no grudges as the Starlights did protect their princess during the battle with Galaxia.

Mamoru arrived last. When he got there, he was immediately by Usagi's side to see how she was doing and apologized that he was not there to help her. His face was wrought with worry. When she replied that she was alright, he hugged her tightly. She smiled with his embrace and wrapped her own arms around his waist. Seiya, who had been standing next to her previously, had quietly slipped away when he saw this. It was too painful for him to watch his love in the arms of another. He stood outside the room and looked at the stars, took a deep breath and thought to himself, 'He's the one that would protect her. I said my goodbyes that day on the rooftop. I shouldn't even be here.' With that thought, he went back inside and forced a smile upon his face. Everyone, aside from Mamoru and Usagi, had noticed Seiya's change in attitude. They were all aware of his feelings for her but did not say anything since their Princess was with their Prince. They thought that Usagi was only in love with Mamoru, as she should be. Mina, Goddess of Love and Beauty, had her suspicions about Usagi's feelings though. But she did not say anything this past year. She was torn between her duty as a senshi and her duty as a friend. It hurt her to see that her best friend could not be with the one she loves most but there was nothing she could do since Seiya had already left and they were bound by duty. They were ALL bound by duty.

"Ok now that we're all here, we can start explaining what happened." Usagi started as everyone sat down in Rei's room.

"Wait, where is Setsuna-mama?" Everyone had been wondering but it was Hotaru who spoke up first.

"Setsuna-san could not come. She said she had to guard the Time Gates."

"Oh. It's just been a long time since I've seen her." Hotaru was crestfallen. She hadn't seen Setsuna for almost a year, none of them have. Even though they didn't have senshi meetings anymore, everyone would gather together to catch up but Setsuna never appeared at any of them. She gave Seiya, who was now across the room from her, a look. Seiya caught it and understood that she was concerned. Only the two of them knew that Pluto was hiding something but they made no notion to mention this to the group.

And so Usagi continued, "Well we heard a scream today and it led us to the park. When we got there, we saw…" she breathed and exhaled deeply before continuing, "We saw this THING." She shuddered at remembering it.

"What was it?" Haruka asked abruptly. She started frowning when she saw how disturbed Usagi looked.

"Well I'm not too sure. But it was.. it was..it…" she had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from upchucking when she tried to describe the scene of the wraith creating another wraith. Everyone became concerned as to how Usagi was reacting. They all realized that it must be something so awful to affect her this way. Mamoru wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed gently to encourage her to continue. But Seiya stepped in to answer the question.

"It was producing something from its mouth. It looked like another one of its kind. So I attacked it twice and the second time it froze." He kept his promise and did not mention anything about the other person who had helped them. "Pluto contacted Usagi and told her that these things can only be destroyed by the Silver Crystal. Sailor Moon used the crystal and the thing exploded. We called Pluto again. She said these things are called wraiths and can only be destroyed with the Silver Crystal once they are immobilized."

Everyone went quiet for a moment.

"You Starlights have recently arrived back on Earth too. Were you sent here to help us or did you guys bring them here?" Haruka glared dangerously at the boys; she was having difficulty holding back the sudden anger that arose within her. Being the over protective one, her mind had immediately jumped to the worst assumptions.

"Why the hell do you think we know what that is!? " Yaten pounded his fist on the table in the room. Taiki placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder and calmly continued for him.

"There was no trouble on our planet when we left. Our princess told us to take some time off to travel. We were not sent here on purpose. We could have travelled to another planet, but we just wanted to visit you guys." He turned his head to face Ami and smiled. A pink tint appeared on her cheeks when he smiled at her.

Michiru also placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder and they exchanged a silent understanding. They both knew that the Starlights had nothing to do with this.

"So Pluto knows something. Shouldn't we ask her then?" Mina suggested, trying to break the tension in the room. Everyone expect Seiya and Usagi nodded. Mina pulled out her communicator to contact Pluto. They waited for a moment.

But there was no answer.

Everyone looked distressed, believing that something must have gone wrong if there was no answer. Haruka clenched her fist and cursed under her breath.

"I think we need to think of a way to deal with these wraiths" Ami spoke up. "We need a plan so that if they appear again, we can combat it efficiently. We cannot have Usagi use the Silver Crystal too much since it uses too much of her energy. I don't need to remind you all that she could die from it."

"She could die from using it!?" Seiya practically shouted. Yaten and Taiki had a horrified look on their faces as well. They had seen Usagi use the Silver Crystal, her star seed, during the battle with Galaxia but they never realized the repercussions from overusing it.

"Yes. Even if we all lent her our powers, there is a chance that she would not survive." Rei answered. She remembered the times when they had thought they lost Usagi when she used the crystal.

"She used it during the fight with Galaxia, without your powers. So why did it not affect her then?" Taiki had thought back to the fight and with this new information, he had a lot of questions about it and hoped the others would be able to answer some of them.

This question however, had struck the group. They never even stopped to think about it. Silence had fallen in the group once again as they thought about it. It was an excellent question.

"Well…" Usagi was deep in her thoughts, deciding carefully which words to use, "when I used it before, it always felt like the Crystal was draining my energy. Like the light emanating from it is my energy so when I have no energy left, it would go dark." She hesitated to think about her battle with Galaxia. "But during the battle with Galaxia… it felt like…um… this _warmth_ in my heart that kept fuelling my energy. It felt so powerful yet loving and so full of hope that it kept the light shining."

Everyone sat in awe. She had never told anyone this because she didn't fully understand it herself. Usagi had actually never really thought much about it but every time she did, she always remembered that feeling of warmth that she felt before. She closed her eyes and placed her hands over her heart as she remembered the wonderful sensation again.

She heard someone clear their throat and she opened her eyes. "It is still dangerous for Usako to use the Silver Crystal without knowing more so I think we should focus on finding another way to defeat the wratihs." Mamoru said while eyeing his girlfriend, "If we see any of these creatures again, we need to get Sailor Mercury there to gather as much information as we can. And until we can find another way, we need to have Sailor Moon there to destroy them." Everyone nodded. "If any one comes across these things again, contact all of us. I'm sure we can all lend Sailor Moon our powers even if we're not there." They knew it was possible. The senshi didn't have to be around each other to lend the Princess their powers. They remembered when Sailor Moon was trying to rescue Saturn's body during the fight with Pharaoh 90 that they were scattered throughout the city but still able to lend her their powers.

They all agreed to his plan. After a while, the group started to disperse. The Starlights were heading out the door when Mamoru placed a hand on Seiya's shoulder to stop him. The three boys turned around to face him.

"You were with Usako when it happened?" Mamoru's voice was gentle.

"Yes." Seiya nodded sharply.

"Thank you for protecting her." He smiled and turned back around to head back to his seat.

Seiya gave a weak smile and turned back around. Taiki had noticed the pain on his friend's face but he made no indication that he saw it. He didn't need to ask Seiya why he was upset. The two started to leave when they noticed Yaten still standing in the same spot, frowning.

The silver-haired boy had noticed something that had crossed the older man's face. It was so brief that Yaten thought he had imagined it. 'I'm sure I saw something. But maybe I was just looking for anything since I feel bad for Seiya…' He shook it off and started to head out the door with his friends.

* * *

Naomi reached home. Her whole body ached but she ignored it. She didn't care what happened to her as long as she succeeded. She was actually glad the wraith had flung her to the side otherwise she would have been discovered by Sailor Moon and Fighter.

She sat down on her bed and quickly pulled out her minicomputer to contact Pluto. She needed to discuss the appearance of the wraith and revise their plans… time was running out.

"Pluto," once they had made the link, "why are they here? They shouldn't be here. Now that the senshi have seen it, it might change everything."

"I don't know how they got there. Maybe they had crossed the Time Gates during the initial attack on Crystal Tokyo but I can't be sure. But the important thing is that I told Seiya and Usagi not to mention you to anyone else. Knowing the two of them, they will keep that promise."

Miya nodded. She started to tell Pluto all that she had discovered about the wraiths – their weaknesses and how they are created, concluding that if more are to appear that they will no doubt try to repopulate.

"More may be appearing soon. How is our original plan coming along?"

"It's going nowhere," Naomi's voice was bitter. She was already getting frustrated at everything. And now with the wraiths appearance, she was starting to doubt herself.

"Miya," Pluto's voice was kind. Kind but firm, "you must stay strong. We will lose again if you have no faith."

"I know. It's just hard." She sighed, "Actually, I uh… I told Seiya-san that I was trying to get Usagi-san to admit her feelings for him. He agreed to help me."

Pluto chuckled slightly, "Of course he did." Naomi was relieved that Pluto was fine with her idea. There was beeping in the background.

"What's that?"

"The senshi are trying to contact me. They're having a meeting right now and probably want to ask me more about what is happening."

"You're not going to answer them?"

"No. I have told them enough. They only need know that they can destroy them with the crystal's power right now. So that is why you cannot lose faith Miya. The crystal's power can only be increased if Usagi's heart is truly happy. You must not give up." Pluto smiled, "I must go now. Please stay strong." The screen went blank.

Naomi shut of the computer and headed to the bathroom. She filled the tub and stepped in to soak her aching body in the warm waters. Shutting her eyes she thought to herself, 'I have to do something drastic. And I have to do it soon.'

****Please Review****


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey! Thanks for the reviews! Hope you'll like this chapter :)**

The days rolled by. There were no signs of wraiths since that day in the park. There were also no signs of progress in Naomi's plan to set up Usagi and Seiya. Naomi would try to think of excuses to leave them alone during their walks before and after school. Or she would suggest outings for the three of them and not show up. But still, it was not enough. Everything was at a stand-still; they were still just friends.

Naomi was spacing out during a provincial exam held in class when she was thinking about what she could do. Taiki, sitting beside her, noticed she was not focused. Following her gaze, he realized she was looking at Seiya and Usagi. Actually, he noticed that she did that a lot in class. She never seemed to be paying attention. Instead, she was always looking at Seiya and Usagi sitting together and frowning. So afterwards, he pulled her aside to talk to her.

"Ne Seito-san," he started.

"You can call me Naomi." She was surprised he wanted to talk to her alone but she didn't really care what he wanted to say.

"Naomi-san, are you in love with Seiya?" He blushed and looked away, clearly uncomfortable about asking her. He figured that he would tell her it was a lost cause since Seiya was madly in love with Usagi. Taiki had gotten to know Naomi over the past couple of days and since she was a friend, he didn't want her to get hurt. Normally he wouldn't interfere with other people's feelings, but he didn't know why he cared so much about her.

She was shocked at his question. "Why would you think that?"

"You always seem to be looking at him and you look distressed when you see him and Tsukino-san. I can only think that you're in love with him." Taiki was never one to beat around the bush.

"I'm not." She bit her lip. She was wondering if she should just tell him. Taiki saw she wasn't upset about him asking, just confused.

"Oh. Ok that's good then," he looked a little relieved, "because he really loves her and I just don't want to see you hurt." He couldn't stop himself from saying that last part. When he did, he blushed again and bit his lip.

Naomi smiled. She was so happy that he cared about her feelings. Before he knew it, she hugged him around the waist. Her forehead rested against his chest to hide the tears of joy that were forming in her eyes. "Thank you Taiki-san."

He awkwardly put his hands on her shoulders and patted her. She pulled away after a moment and smiled at him again. Her smile was so warming that Taiki smiled back. They walked off together which was when Naomi had the chance to probe him about his love life to his embarrassment.

If they had looked back, they would have seen Ami standing there heart-broken. She had just walked up to see Taiki and Naomi hugging. 'They look so happy together. I was a fool to think that Taiki was ever interested in me.' She walked back the in the other direction, eyes brimming with tears.

Taiki had told her about his feelings towards Ami and Naomi took the chance to give him some advice.

"You should just come right out and tell her that you love her!" After hearing that Taiki and Ami were still just friends, she was getting frustrated at them too. She knew these two were in love and their situation was not complicated as compared to Usagi and Seiya's.

"What if she doesn't like me?"

"I think everyone can tell that she likes you and you know it too." Naomi tried hard not roll her eyes, "I really don't understand why you don't just tell her. I mean what's holding you back? Don't you want to be with her?"

"I do. But it's just…" He trailed off thinking about his duty as a senshi. He didn't want to be selfish and leave his Princess to pursue his own happiness.

"There's something you have to do so you can't be with her right?" It surprised him how she knew what he was thinking but he nodded. "Whatever it is though, won't you regret not telling Mizuno-san? She'll never know that you love her. Can you really live with that? If she rejects you, which I really doubt, then you can move on with whatever it is that you have to do. But if she loves you back, then you can spend this time together. Even if you have to leave later, you'll be happy to have known what it feels like to be in love and be loved back. Yes it will hurt IF you decide to leave, but you'll gain so much more in return so isn't that worth the pain?"

'This girl…' he was in awe of her. "You're so blunt."

She laughed at his honesty but apologized about it.

"Don't be sorry. I think I needed to hear that. I know what I have to do now." And he smiled at her.

"Shouldn't you meet up with her now then?" She really didn't know when to stop but she just wanted things done her way for once.

He laughed. "I probably should. How about I go to her place after I walk you home?" Knowing that it would be pointless to argue at this point, she agreed.  
They reached her apartment and before they parted ways she added, "Trust me, she really does love you. You just have to show her you love her too. Good luck!"

He walked to Ami's house thinking about what he was going to say. He was so nervous and even more so when he pushed the doorbell. He waited for what seemed like an eternity.

There was still no answer after 10 minutes.

He was disheartened but figured the next place she would be was Fruits Crown Parlour with their friends since they didn't have to study after having a test today.

She was eating with her friends at their usual hangout, Fruits Crown Parlour. Ami was still visibly upset at what she had seen earlier. All her friends noticed so they questioned her about it and she told them what she had seen. Of course they all thought she was over-thinking it, but she still wouldn't believe them.

"I'm the Goddess of Love and Beauty and I can tell that she doesn't have feelings for him! Even if she does, it's so obvious that he likes you Ami-chan. Don't worry!" Mina said bubbly.

"I don't know, they seemed close and they were so happy together." She sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it anymore." And so they left it alone. The group quickly changed topics, trying to find something to cheer up their blue-haired friend when Taiki suddenly walked up to their table.

"Good afternoon everyone. May I speak with Mizuno-kun alone?" He tried to smile as much as he could but he was so nervous when he saw her.

"You can say whatever you need to say in front of my friends." She wasn't smiling. She wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes were filled with tears with him there so she stared at the table to hide them.

He was shocked at her reaction so he decided to be a little more forceful. "I have something private I want… no, something I NEED to tell you." He gave the rest of the girls a pleading look. They understood that he wanted them to leave and so they did. They quietly slipped out of their seats.

Taiki sat down beside Ami and placed his hand underneath her chin to pull her face towards him. It was then that she noticed that everyone had left. Looking into his eyes, the tears started to fall.

He was confused. He didn't know why she was crying, "What's wrong?"

Ami pulled her face away from his hand and stared at the table again before speaking, "I saw… You… Naomi…" was all she stuttered out before bursting into tears.

He pulled her into his chest with one arm tightly around her shoulder and the other on her head. He smiled as he understood what had happened. With her still in his arms, he leaned his head to her ears and whispered, "There's nothing between Naomi and me. She actually gave me advice to tell you that…" he took a breath, "to tell you that I love you."

She pushed gently him away. He could see the tears stained on her face as she looked away.

"Please don't toy with my heart. I saw the two of you…" she was cut off by his lips pressed against hers. He poured as much of his feelings into his kiss as he can and she melted into his arms. Feeling that she had relaxed, Taiki snaked one of his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. His other arm was around the back of her neck which he tilted slightly, deepening the kiss. They felt like everything in the world had disappeared and time had stopped. It was just the two of them. It was pure bliss.

After a while, they parted for air. He stared into her deep blue eyes and whispered, "Ami I love you… so much."

"I love you too Taiki."

And they kissed again, gently this time. In this moment, everything was perfect.

****Please review**  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks for the review! Enjoy! :)**

When the girls left Taiki with Ami in the café, they were hiding outside spying on the couple. They all cheered when they kissed.

"EH? I didn't know Ami and Taiki liked each other!" Usagi was shocked at the scene. Everyone else sweat-dropped. 'How dense can this girl get?'

"Awww I knew this was going to happen! They're so cute together!" Mina yelled. They had turned around so Ami and Taiki could have some privacy. "I wish I could get Yaten to confess too." She sighed. Mako patted her back.

"Maybe you should just tell him." Mako suggested.

"But the girl is never suppose to say it first," she whined, "and I'm not even sure if he likes me. He's so mean to me all the time."

"Well maybe you shouldn't act like such a ditz around him!" Rei shouted at her. Mako and Usagi nodded in agreement. They all know that Mina latches on to Yaten's arm every time she sees him. But what they didn't know was that Yaten secretly liked all the attention he was receiving from Mina.

"Speak of the devil…" Mako smirked and pointed a finger and everyone turned to see.

"Oi Odango!" It was Seiya and Yaten. They were coolly strolling with their sunglasses, Seiya waving at the girls. "What are you girls up to?"

Usagi gave him a sly smile and giggled, "Look!" she pointed at Taiki and Ami. Taiki still had his arms around Ami as she rested her head on his shoulder and he reached over to stroke her cheek with his free hand.

The boys were speechless.

Mina sighed, "They're so cute together." Her eyes were twinkling with jealously as she continued to look dreamily at the couple in the café. She was happy for them, but she still wanted her own romance. It was then that Yaten noticed she had not jumped on him when they arrived. He snapped his fingers in front of her face to draw her attention.

"Oi! That's because no one will take a crazy girl like you." He smirked. But as soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it because she started tearing up. She turned around and sniffled softly as the girls glared at him while trying to comfort her. Seiya sighed at his friend's stupidity. He knew Yaten liked Mina but thought it unkind for him to treat her this way. Looking away, Yaten bit his lip and apologized.

"Save it! I know you're not sorry!" she yelled and started to run away but Yaten caught her wrist. Everyone else just stood back and watched.

"I am!" he yelled back at her. His voice softened as he saw her flinch, "I am sorry. It's just… just…"

She twisted and tried to get him to release her wrist but he was strong and held on. So she resorted to just yelling back. "You just what?! LET GO!?"

"I JUST LOVE YOU!"

His words rang in the air. Everyone held their breath. Mina's eyes widened and stood there speechless trying to process his words. She couldn't believe it. 'He confessed to me here… Yaten…in front of everyone.'

He was blushing. He bit his lip again and looked away, waiting for her to say something. They all stood for a couple minutes; no one wanted to move or speak. It wasn't long until Yaten finally got impatient and started to open his mouth again to shout when Mina suddenly smashed her lips onto his. It was an aggressive kiss. But a kiss nonetheless. His eyes widened at her actions but wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her and kissed her back.

The girls and Seiya chuckled at the sight, which reminded the two that people were watching. They abruptly broke apart and blushed furiously, not looking at each other.

"I'm sorry I was so mean to you. I can't help it but I like teasing you." He spoke while looking at the sky.

She just nodded, staring at the floor. All the other girls grinned at them while Seiya smirked at Yaten.

"Ne ne, let's go back in to bug the other two lovebirds!" Usagi nudged them with her elbow. Calling them lovebirds only caused Mina and Yaten to turn even redder. He stuck out his hand in front of her, waiting for her to hold it when the others started to walk back into the café. She hesitated for a second then suddenly pounced on him, latching tightly on to his arm.

"Mou… you're still doing this?" He sighed. He ignored the pain creeping up his arm.

"Yup! You're mine now and I'm never letting go!" she replied cheerfully. Her answer made him smile. He would never let her go either… never again.

****Plea****se Review****


	11. Chapter 11

Seeing his two best friends with the ones they love made Seiya happy. He was truly happy for them. 'They deserve it. I just wish I could be with the one I love too.'

It had been a few days since his two friends started dating Mina and Ami. He was envious as his love life was going nowhere. Seiya managed to take Usagi out more since Mamoru was always busy at school and he had free time (they decided not to regroup the Three Lights' for now). With the help of Naomi, he was able to spend time alone with her. But she still did not respond to his advances. After more talks with Naomi, Usagi finally knew that Seiya was someone more than just a friend; he held a very special place in her heart. She wasn't' sure if what she feels is love but she knew Seiya was very important to her. And in his year of absence, she may have even missed him more than she missed Mamoru when he was gone the year before. She hated herself for feeling this way about another man. But she thought that everything would still be alright since she did love her boyfriend. She decided to stay with him for Crystal Tokyo and for her future daughter.

One day after school they were sitting on a park bench when he finally got the courage to ask her, "Odango, why are you with Mamoru-san?"

She hadn't expected him to ask such a question. She thought it was obvious. "Because I love him."

He cringed. He knew it but he didn't need to hear it from her. He kept his calm demeanor and kept talking, "Have you ever felt that way about someone else?"

She was stunned. She frowned and thought about how to answer his question. 'Someone else…? Do I?' And when she didn't respond right away, he noticed and asked her another, "So you do feel that way about someone else. Have you ever thought to tell him about it?"

He was hoping that she was thinking about him because he didn't understand why she was still with Mamoru. When he was here the first time, it was understandable as to why he didn't respond to her letters since he died. But now that Mamoru was back, he had barely even seen the guy with Usagi. He wondered why someone who supposedly loves her wouldn't want to spend as much time with her as possible. Seiya understood that her boyfriend was busy, but he use to be busier as a pop star but still found time to hang out with her.

"I can't. I have to be with Mamo-chan." Her face and tone of voice was impassive.

Raising an eyebrow he asked her why. And she spent a good chunk of the afternoon explaining about their past in the Silver Millennium, how they saw the future of Crystal Tokyo, and Chibi-Usa.

"Even if I love another person I can never give up Chibi-Usa. I love her so much." Her eyes were glassy with the unshed tears.

He was glad that he was wearing sunglasses otherwise she would have noticed the tears in his eyes. Her explanation had completely trashed his hopes of ever being with her. 'How could I ever compete with destiny and tell her to give up her child.'

"I'm sorry." Seiya spoke, his voice laced with bitterness.

"For what?"

"For…for asking." And he quickly got up and ran home, leaving the girl to sit there alone. What he really wanted to say was that he was sorry for every loving her and putting her in such a difficult position.

If he had waited after answering, he would have felt the hand reach for him and seen the tears trickle down her face. But he didn't. Instead she sat there alone on the bench, watching him run away.

Naomi had seen all this happen. She had always been following the couple, making sure they were alone. When she saw Seiya run away and Usagi cry alone, she punched the wall she was leaning on. She was so frustrated at watching two people who clearly love each other not end up together. Her cell phone rang; Seiya was calling.

"I can't do this anymore. She can't love me." She could hear that he was trying to hide the fact that he was in pain. He had actually ran into an alley far away and slumped to the floor, dazed from the pain of his unrequited love.

"Why? What happened?" Naomi had an idea as to what Usagi had said to him but needed confirmation.

"I can't tell you but she just loves her boyfriend and they have a future together. I won't be a part of it. Thank you for trying to help me but… I just can't do this anymore." And he hung up.

She bit her lip. 'Now what?'

* * *

For the next couple of days, Seiya had avoided Usagi whenever he could. He no longer walked her to and from school (Naomi had started accompanying her again) and in class, he arrived early to claim his original desk back. They barely even talked to each other when they hung out with everyone. All of their friends noticed the sudden change in behaviour. Yaten had insensitively asked and made a comment at home one day only to earn a punch in the face. And Usagi just brushed it off whenever the girls asked. Even Mamoru noticed that their phone conversations were less lively but didn't know how to approach her about it.

"Usagi-san. You should tell Chiba-san about your feelings for Seiya-san." Naomi suggested at the end of the week when walking Usagi home.

She shook her head, "I can't do that. I don't want to bother him when he's studying."

"Aren't you lying to him then? How can you love someone if you're hiding something from them?"

Usagi stopped walking. Even though she realized that what Naomi said was correct, she was starting to get annoyed at this girl for being so nosy.

"I know you're trying to help but nothing will come out of it if I tell him. He'll just be upset." She balled her fists against her skirt, holding in her emotions.

"He seems like an understanding person and he loves you." Naomi turned to face her, smiled and cupped Usagi's cheeks in her hands. "Doesn't he deserve to know?"

Usagi had broken into tears as she fell to her knees. Naomi bent down and took the sobbing girls into her embrace.

"Shh… don't cry." She soothed, "You should call him right now and ask to meet him tomorrow morning at his place to tell him ok?" Usagi nodded and Naomi whipped out her cell phone to call him.

"Mamo-chan?" she sniffled.

"Usako are you alright?"

"Yes. I need to talk to you. Can I come over tomorrow morning?"

"Um… I have some work to do. Can't you tell me now?"

"It's better if I tell you in person though." She pleaded.

"Ok then." He wasn't sure what she wanted, but hearing her sound like that broke his heart.

"Ok I'll be there by 9am then. See you tomorrow Mamo-chan."

"See you tomorrow Usako." And they both hung up.

Usagi handed Naomi back her phone and got up off the floor. She smiled weakly at the other girl and thanked her for the suggestion to talk to him. They walked quietly back to her place and when she made sure Usagi was in her house, Naomi ran back to her apartment. She had a plan and she needed to act fast.

* * *

Mamoru was working at home when he got the call. After they hung up, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'She sounded like she's going to break up with me. No! I know she won't, we have a future together.' He couldn't concentrate on his studies anymore so he went to grab a drink from the fridge. He stood outside his balcony, looking at the setting sun. 'I love you so much Usako. Do you even love me the same way or have you fallen for Seiya?' And the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. After a while, he was standing beneath the starry night with the same thoughts running through his head.

The doorbell rang. It was dark out now so he wondered who it could be. He opened the front door… and then everything went black.

****Please Review****


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for all your reviews! Really appreciate it :)  
**

**AN: Please note that I DO know how disturbing the implication of this chapter is... I wasn't sure if I should've steered the story this way but it kinda works out in the end. PLEASE don't get offended (if you don't know what I'm talking about. just remember that Miya is ****technically ****10yrs old)  
**

**On another note...I found out that there's a NEW SAILOR MOON ANIME COMING OUT! hope the Starlights are in it *fingers crossed!*  
**

**Anyways enjoy! Please don't hate me after reading this :(  
**

* * *

Usagi walked to Mamoru's place the next morning. It was just after 8:30am but she was already up since she couldn't sleep. She was nervous about talking to him but she had to do it. He reached his apartment quickly and rang the doorbell.

He didn't answer.

So she rang it again. After a few tries, he opened the door. He looked dishevelled – his hair was sticking up in places and there were bags under his eyes. He placed a hand on his head to try to ease the headache.

"Usako! You're early!" He had actually just remembered about their plan to meet. At his appearance though, she became concerned.

"Mamo-chan! Are you alright?" She placed a hand on his face to cup his cheeks.

But before he had time to answer, the bathroom door opened. They both turned at the noise and their eyes bulged at what they saw.

"Who is that?" Usagi said softly. She took her hands off his face and wrapped it around herself. Her eyes were filling with tears as she stared at who came out of the bathroom. It was a girl... a tall, slim girl with waist-length wavy sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She was naked when she stepped out.

The girl was in shock when she spotted Usagi. "Oh my gosh! You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" Trying to cover herself up, she yelled at Mamoru. She quickly headed to the bedroom to grab her clothes that were in there, changed and ran out the apartment, leaving Usagi and Mamoru.

"Usako I…"

Usagi slapped him before he could utter another word. "How could you!? I can't believe you! How could you ruin our future!?" And she quickly ran out the door.

He stood there dumb-founded, massaging the cheek she just slapped. His eyes slowly filling with tears, he took his frustration out on a wall with a punch. 'What the HELL just happened?' Truth be told, he really doesn't remember much from last night.

'After the call, I went to get a drink from the fridge. I think I went out to a bar next because… because I was upset thinking that Usako wanted to break up with me. Then what?' He scrunched his face trying to remember. 'I remember being back home and thinking Usako was here with me. Did I drink that much to mistake that girl for Usako? She does look similar to her I guess… Because I remember being with someone. Oh man… how could this have happened!?' He slumped to the floor and pounded the ground, eyes swelling from the tears that threatened to fall.

Usagi bolted out of his place. She didn't know where she was going, she just ran. She tripped over the pavement and fell face forward on the ground. She pushed her body up and just sat there crying loudly on the street with her hand on her face. But not a moment later, her cries quieted down when she felt someone pull her into their chest. She didn't stop crying though, instead she just sobbed into the person's chest because she wasn't afraid of who it was. She'd recognize his cologne infused with a mild olive scent anywhere. It was Seiya.

Seiya hugged her tightly and spoke into her hair. "Shh…. Don't cry Odango. I'm here." She hugged him tightly, clinging on to him for dear life. Noticing that she wouldn't get up on her own, he shifted so that one arm was around her shoulder and slipped the other underneath her knees and swiftly picked her up. She didn't protest. Instead, she snuggled closer to his chest while she cried some more. He carried her back to his apartment.

She had fallen asleep on the way to his place. Once inside, he gently laid her down on his bed and tucked her into his satin sheets. He kneeled beside his bed and placed his hand on her face. Using his thumb to rub away the tears on her face, he whispered quietly, "Don't cry anymore. I'll always be here for you." He placed a light kiss on her forehead and stood back up to walk out. But she woke up.

"Seiya… Will you stay here with me?" She muffled into his sheets. But he heard her and it was enough. He smiled at her; his eyes were filled with concern and love. He climbed into bed next to her without question. She snuggled onto his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Usagi sighed and a few tears fell from her eyes as she fell asleep in his arms.

"I'll do anything for you…" He whispered into her hair and fell asleep as well, with her by his side.

* * *

Naomi had followed Usagi from Mamoru's apartment that morning. She called Seiya when Usagi ran down the street crying.

"Seiya! I just saw Usagi-san crying. You have to come help! I can't keep up with her and she might hurt herself. She's running past the library in the downtown district heading south. Come NOW!" Naomi hoped that Seiya won't refuse or ask questions and thankfully he didn't. He was too worried about Usagi that he didn't care about anything else. So Naomi continued to follow Usagi in the distance until she saw her trip. She was about to step out to help her until she saw Seiya. Knowing that Usagi was in safe hands, she sighed and walked back to her apartment.

She pulled out her minicomputer and contacted Pluto the moment she got back to her house.

"It seems like Usagi-san and Chiba-san broke up." There was no expression in her face or voice.

"Well done Miya-chan. But what did you do?" Pluto was concerned since she knew Usagi and Mamoru were devoted to each other. So she knew something drastic must have happened in order for them to break.

"I did what was necessary." Her voice was harsh and Pluto knew not to question her anymore about it, "That's not the reason why I contacted you. I called because I can feel this energy inside me." She clutched her chest tightly as if trying to hold it in, "It's very powerful and I think I can use it and I'll need your help when I do."

"What do you think it is?"

"It's the energy of my star seed; it's gotten strong after…" she caught herself before she could tell Pluto what had happened. She shook her head and continued, "That's not important. I need you to promise me that when I use it, you'll take the senshi into the Time Gate dimension to protect them." Her face grew solemn with this statement.

"No Miya-chan! You'll die if you release the energy of your star seed!" Pluto was clearly distressed at her statement.

The younger girl simply scoffed and thought to herself, 'I'm already dead inside'. She spoke back to Pluto "I know. But I thought we agreed that it'll take anything to save them. And besides, I'll be born again if we succeed so promise me that you'll do it Auntie Pluto."

"Miya-chan…"

"Sailor Pluto! We, as senshi, have a duty to protect the Princess even if it costs us our lives. Now promise me that you'll do it." Anger had shown on her face. Pluto had never seen her raise her voice; she also knew that what she said was true… it was their duty.

She sighed and agreed, "I promise."

"Thank you. Goodbye." She quickly snapped the computer shut, not even waiting for Pluto say goodbye. She clenched her fist and walked to the shower. She had waited all morning, making sure that Seiya had picked up Usagi then discussing her plans with Pluto, before she could tend to herself… She had to clean herself from the stench of a man. She stepped into the running shower and started scrubbing… scrubbing hard, making her skin raw as if she could scrub away the feeling of having Mamoru touch her. Suddenly dropping the scrubber, she fell to her knees and transformed back to Miya. The little girl cried as she hugged her knees as the water kept washing away her tears.

'…I had to do whatever it took...'

****Please review** **


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! **

**My mistake... thought I read somewhere that Starlights won't appear anymore in the new SM anime because the author didn't like how Toei changed them from men to women. but thats ok it's still SM and I'll still love it :)  
**

**ANYWAYS! Please enjoy this new chapter! =)  
**

* * *

"Michiru, the winds are changing."

"Evil is approaching again Haruka."

The couple stood by the seaside by the sandy blonde's yellow sports car. Haruka had her arms around Michiru's waist. "It'll be alright if you're by my side." Haruka looked at her lover and kissed her on the cheek.

* * *

Usagi woke up later in the evening to the beating of Seiya's heart. She shifted a little to get closer to his warmth, not realizing that a pair of midnight blue eyes was watching her.

"Odango, we have to get up sometime." He had been awake for quite some time already but did not move so as not to wake the sleeping girl. She nodded and an inaudible muffled noise came from his chest.

"Mm? What was that?" he cooed while gently running his hand up and down her back.

She turned her head up to look at him, her eyes started to fill with tears again. "I don't want to leave. I won't be hurt here." She quickly turned her head back into his chest when the tears streamed quietly down her face once again.

"Ok then." He felt he tears soak through his shirt and knew she was crying again. He wanted to ask her what had happened but decided keep quiet for now. "But I'm getting hungry and I know you're hungry too." And right on cue, her stomach growled loudly. She buried her head deeper into his body in embarrassment while he chuckled softly. His laughter soothed her and the tears stopped flowing.

"Come on Odango. I'll go get us some food from the kitchen. We don't have to go out to eat if you don't want to." He felt her nod so he scooped her up as he got out of his bed. He gently placed her feet and headed out of his bedroom with her following timidly behind him. Reaching the living room, they saw Yaten sprawled out on the couch watching TV.

"It's late baka." But he stopped talking when Seiya shook his head at him. It was then that he noticed a dejected looking Usagi behind him. So he went back to looking at TV pretending to watch it when he was actually observing the couple.

Seiya warmed up some soup for the both of them and they sat down at the dinner table to eat it. After a while, he finally asked her what happened. Her eyes widened at the question and tears started to form again but she knew she owed him an explanation since he had been there for her for the whole day comforting her. Just his presence by her side had given her some sort of comfort. Her eyes had briefly glanced in Yaten's direction and Seiya understood what it meant.

"Oi Yaten, can you go to your room for a moment?" Yaten wanted to yell back but saw his pleading eyes and huffed. He got up without another word. Seiya looked at him in shock and confusion, 'He's actually listening to me without complaining? Mina is a good influence on him.' He then smirked at Yaten who just stuck up his nose and continued to the hallway to his room. But before he opened his bedroom door, he heard Usagi start talking so he stopped moving.

"Mamo-chan was with another girl." She did her best to hold back the tears. Usagi thought that it would be best to get it out and over with. If she couldn't tell Seiya then there was no one else she could tell. "I went there this morning to talk to him and I saw a naked girl come out of his bathroom. She grabbed her clothes from his room." She plopped her head on the table, hiding her face in her arms and starting crying again. She repeated "Chibi-Usa" over and over again between her sobs.

Seiya clenched his fist until his knuckles were white. 'How could he do this to her?' He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tightly. She raised her head to face him, eyes red and swollen.

"Don't cry," he forced a smile, "I'm here for you." He couldn't tell her that everything was going to be fine because it wasn't going to be since she lost her future and her future daughter. She just stared at him wide eyed as the tears were still falling quietly from her eyes. She then placed her hands over his fist that was clenched on his lap. She smiled weakly and whispered, "Thank you."

Yaten came running back to the dining area moments later, clearly frantic. "Mina told me there are wraiths appearing in the school yard." Without a moment's hesitation they all transformed and jumped out the balcony, heading for their school.

* * *

Mina was alone practising her volleyball serves late into the night when she heard screaming. She ran to the field and saw two wraiths, each holding onto a girl and sucking out the grey matter from them. She hid, called everyone and transformed into Sailor Venus. When she returned, the wraiths were about to throw the girls away; she wanted to catch them both but knew that she could only get to one of the girls. Thankfully two other figures caught the girls before their bodies had hit something. It was Sailor Mercury and Sailor Star Maker – Taiki and Ami had been studying in the library when they heard the screams. They jumped away to lay the girls down before joining Venus by her side.

The wraiths each started producing the new wraiths from their mouths. Mercury started collecting data as Venus and Maker fired their attacks at the creatures. The wraiths dodged the attacks and jumped towards the assaulting senshis. They body-slammed Maker and Venus against the wall and grabbed tightly on to their throats as the new wraiths continued to crawl out of their mouths. They were both covered in black slime from the slam. Mercury prepared to attack but didn't need to.

"Deep Submerge!"

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

The two attacks caught the wraiths and they were blasted to the side. Uranus and Jupiter jumped in to pull aside Maker and Venus, who were both unconscious.

Uranus glared at the wraiths. The first wraith had the new wraith's legs dangling from its mouth while the second only had the upper body emerged. "World Shaking!" He had also heard 3 other attacks fired at the same time. It was Healer, Fighter and one from the rooftop. Uranus and Fighter's attack hit the first wraith while Healer and the unknown attack hit the second. The first wraith fell to the ground as the new wraith it was producing stepped from its mouth. The second wraith froze in its spot.

"Sailor Moon! Use your Crystal!" yelled the unknown figure on the rooftop. Everyone turned to see who it was but it was dark out and they only saw a small black figure.

Sailor Moon pulled out her Silver Crystal to purify the wraiths. She had only caught two of the now three wraiths and they exploded. The new wraith had absorbed the light and blasted it back at the group.

"Silent Wall!" Saturn stood in front of everyone to deflect the oncoming blast. But as soon as the light and her defense faded, the wrath had jumped in front of her and started choking her. She dropped her Glaive while the wraith started sucking the air around her.

"SATURN!" Everyone yelled but they could not attack in fear of hurting their comrade in front of it. The grey matter emerged from Saturn's mouth as she choked for air whilst trying to pry away the fingers that were enclosed around her throat. Uranus held her sword and charged at the creature from the side, hoping to slice through the arm which held Saturn. 'Its body is incredibly dense.' Uranus realized that if she didn't let go now, the wraith would attack her. Her sword had only sliced half way through the arm before the creature stopped sucking and shrieked. Its fingers loosened around Saturn's neck and the other hand had gotten a hold of the blade of Uranus's sword. Uranus released her sword, grabbed Saturn and jumped to safety. Once the wraith had stopped sucking the air, the slimy grey matter retreated forcefully back down the girl's throat causing her to cough violently. The wraith was about to retaliate when another blast hit it from behind. While it was distracted, an attack came from the rooftop to immobilize it… the wraith had no time to turn around and suck the attack.

"Sailor Moon! Again!" The figure yelled again.

Sailor Moon nodded and released the light of the silver Crystal again. This time it engulfed the remaining wraith, destroying it as it exploded.

The group stared back at the rooftop but the figure had disappeared. As Mars and Jupiter tried to run to catch the person, Fighter stopped them.

"Don't go after her." She commanded.

"Why? Who is it?" Neptune was the one who spoke up.

"We don't know, but we were told that whoever it is, they are only trying to help us and that we shouldn't go after them." Sailor Moon answered

"But…" Mars started to complain but was interrupted.

"Let's go to the shrine to talk guys. We have to take care of those who are hurt," Mercury pointed to Maker, Venus, and Saturn. "And I have information."

****Please review****


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: HI! Thanks for the reviews! It makes me giggle but I can't thank you guys enough for the lovely comments! Kk enjoy! **

Looking into the fire, she saw darkness. It was pitch black. And suddenly, a pair of bright yellow eyes leered at her. It was the eyes of the wraith. She was brought out of her trance immediately.

"Sorry guys, I couldn't see anything in the fire." Rei told the group as she entered her room. Taiki was lying unconscious with his head still on Ami's lap on the floor. Mina was propped up in an upright position with her head on Yaten's shoulder, still unconscious. Hotaru was passed out on Rei's bed with Haruku brushing her face as Michiru held the young girl's hand. Seiya was beside Usagi and Mako around the table, in silence.

"My mirror didn't tell me anything either. It just turned black." Michiru said quietly.

"So who is that person and what have you found Ami?" Haruku's eyes flashed dangerously. She was angry ever since her adopted daughter was hurt. She loved the girl like she was her own and had become quite protective over her.

Usagi sighed, "We don't know. Pluto didn't tell us much just that we can't find that person but we have to trust them." She sipped her tea.

"That's not good enough!" Haruka bellowed. Michiru placed a hand on her lover's arm and shook her head, at which Haruka immediately stopped yelling.

"Where is Setsuna-san? She should be here since it seems like she knows what's going on. We should contact Mamoru-san too." Mako said calmly.

Usagi stiffened at the name of Mamoru. 'Should I tell them? But it will cause so many problems right now.' She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Seiya's hand squeeze her arm under the table. She looked up to see him smile kindly at her. She smiled back as he looked away to answer Mako.

"He will not be joining us anymore." Seiya was about to respond to Rei and Haruka's protests when Usagi raised her hand to silence them all. She was grateful that Seiya hadn't told them what happened.

"That is not important right now." She sighed then turned to face Ami, "Ami-chan, what have you found?"

Ami cleared her throat, "From what I can tell, these wraiths are created from human energy. I analyzed the black slime left on Maker and Venus when they had a hold of them," she absent-mindedly started stroking Taiki's hair and Yaten held on tightly to Mina's hand, "it is condensed dark energy with small traces of human DNA mixed in with it. The grey matter that they suck out of their victims is a solidified form of the person's energy. They consume it and mold it with their own dark energy to create another wraith."

Everyone gasped and cringed at remembering how the wraiths were reproducing.

Ami continued, "Which is why only the Silver Crystal can destroy these things. It cleanses the dark energy. But that is only possible if it does not absorb the attack."

"What do you mean?" Mako asked.

"As we've seen, it absorbs any energy that attacks it and this includes the Crystal's light. So in order to purify it, we have to prevent it from absorbing the attacks into its mouth. It worked when its mouth was producing the new wraith and when…" she hesitated to think for a moment, "when the mysterious figure blasted it from behind to freeze its movements."

"So, who is this person?" Yaten glanced at Seiya and Usagi when he asked.

It was Ami who answered, "I scanned her briefly when she appeared." She peered at Usagi and Seiya to see if they would disapprove and was glad to see that they were waiting for her continue. "From what I can tell, she's a senshi as well. Probably a child from her size. I couldn't get a clear reading on her energy, but it feels familiar."

"Pluto told us not to go looking for her. She told us that she is here to help us." Usagi figured that she could tell everyone about the promise since they are already aware of the mysterious person's existence.

"We should contact Pluto." Haruka stated bluntly. She was looking painfully at Hotaru's unconscious body while stroking her hair. Michiru continued for her, "Usagi-chan, I think you should contact her. She will answer you." Usagi nodded and took out her communicator.

"Usagi-chan…" everyone heard Pluto's weak voice.

"Pluto? What happened? Are you alright?" Usagi was worried because of the image of Pluto on her communicator. The Time Senshi had clearly been in a fight; her face was bruised and blood was trickling out of her mouth.

"Yes I am fine for now. What can I help you with?"

"Were you attacked? Where are you?" Usagi was determined to help after seeing her friend hurt.

"I am safe now."

"Are you with that mysterious senshi? We saw her when more wraiths came. Who is she?" Haruka, growing impatient, bellowed from across the room.

"I cannot say. She is here to help you but you cannot know her identity." Pluto coughed before continuing, "More wraiths will be coming now but you can defeat them by increasing the power of your Silver Crystal."

"How!?" Everyone was shocked that the Crystal had more potential power.

"Follow your heart Princess. You can follow your heart now can't you?"

Everyone was confused at that statement… everyone except Usagi. Her eyes widened in shock as she continued to stare at Pluto's image on her communicator, 'How does she know?' She started to ask what had been bothering her since her break-up with Mamoru.

"I know what you want to ask Princess. But let me tell you that everything will be better if you follow your heart. Do not worry about the consequences now. Just follow your heart, please trust me."

Usagi bit her lip. She wasn't sure about Pluto's answer but thought that if the Time senshi assured her that everything was going to be ok then she didn't need to worry… right? She still had doubts about Crystal Tokyo and Chibi-Usa if she wasn't with Mamoru.

Pluto coughed again on the other end; she was coughing up blood now. In between her coughs, "Please follow your heart." And the screen went blank.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Haruka yelled. Everyone had turned to Usagi who just continued to stare at the blank communicator with watery eyes. "Koneko-chan?" Haruka's voice was softer after seeing Usagi's sad face.

"I…I…" she stammered while holding back tears. She looked at Seiya who just looked back with concern in his eyes. Their eyes locked for a while before she continued, "I have to go" and she quickly stood up and ran out the room.

Seiya ran out the door immediately after her. He had not expected her to just run out but understood that it was difficult for her to talk about it. As the others started to get up, Yaten spoke while still sitting on the floor with Mina leaning on him.

"Just let them go. He knows what's going on and when she's ready, she'll tell you guys too." He turned his face back to Mina and rested it on her head.

Everyone just stared at the door looking concerned, but it was Rei who spoke up, "What happened today?"

"Can't say." Lying was easy for him and he continued with a nonchalant expression, "Seiya just brought her back to our apartment and they talked." Mina shifted and groaned, which caught his attention. He placed a hand on her cheek to bring her to face him. "How are you feeling sleepy head?" He smiled warmly at her groggy face.

"Like I was slammed into a wall," She groaned again but managed to give him a small smile back before cringing in pain.

"It's ok. Just rest. I'll protect my clumsy blonde." He kissed her forehead and held her in his arms as she snuggled closer to him, falling back to sleep.

They all stayed in the room that night. Taiki had woken up briefly in the middle of the night before groaning and falling back asleep. Hotaru had yet to wake up or even move for that matter.

* * *

Pluto was resting in Naomi's bed after talking to Usagi. Naomi had tended to her wounds and stood by to protect her.

_Pluto had just heard that Usagi and Mamoru broke up. Everything was going according to plan. But she suddenly felt an evil presence in the Time Gates dimension. 'They're coming.' Before she knew it, there were five wraiths in front of her. 'I can't let them cross the Time Gates. So she fought them off as best as she could. They fired her attacks back at her and before she landed from the attack another wraith was behind her, catching her by her neck. She swung her staff at it and it released her, only to be slammed aside by another wraith as it scratched her. They surrounded her as she tried to pick herself up, with her staff still in her hands. They held her up and one of them prepared to drive its hand through her chest. The orb on her staff glowed red and she appeared in Naomi's apartment._

_Naomi had just returned from fighting the wraiths at school when she saw Pluto staggering to sit down in her apartment. She ran to her side to help her._

"_They attacked me at the Time Gates. He must have helped them get there. I was overwhelmed so I transported them back to Crystal Tokyo before coming here. I temporarily sealed the gates but it won't be long until they get through." She choked on her cough. That was when Usagi called. After they finished talking, Naomi had pressed her stud earring and it transformed into the Luna Ball. With the Luna Ball back in its original form, (Naomi was Miya again)she asked it to heal Pluto's wounds. _

"_You're still weak. Lie down." Miya helped her into the bed. "They're coming soon then? Guess it's only a matter of time. Anyways I'm glad you're still alive. Seems like my plan is the only option when they all come to attack, so you need to rest up for it." Pluto nodded and fell asleep._

****Please review** **_  
_


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hey! This chapter is a little short but still hope you'll enjoy it! Thanks for the reviews :) **

Usagi ran out of Rei's room and down the shrine steps before stopping to look at the sky. Seiya caught up with her momentarily and stood next to her.

"Odango are you alright?" He asked kindly.

She didn't look at him when she nodded and continued to look at the sky. It was difficult for him to see through her impassive face. Then she grabbed his hand and started walking, dragging him with her. "Let's go." And the couple walked silently, side by side, hand in hand.

She had taken him to a park overlooking a lake. The moon reflected beautifully off the waters as the stars twinkled in the dark sky. They sat down on a bench, still loosely holding hands as he turned to face her. She just stared into the distant; many thoughts were running through her head but she wasn't really focusing on anything in particular. She remained in a daze as if to numb herself from any emotions.

Seiya was concerned that Usagi hadn't said a word so he leaned in close to her ears and whispered, "Cheer up Odango. It hurts my feelings when you don't pay attention to the good-looking guy next to you." He smirked and leaned back to see what her reaction would be.

She had none still but his breath on her ears brought her back to reality. She blinked a couple times before speaking, "The stars are so beautiful. They always feel so peaceful." She continued to stare.

He looked up at the sky and stared at it too. "Yea."

The couple sat there just looking at the stars for a while. It was getting really late until Usagi spoke up again, "I'm worried about the future and Chibi-Usa if I follow my heart."

Then it hit him what Pluto was talking about earlier – Usagi was worried about the future and her daughter because her heart didn't belong to Mamoru anymore. He looked at her, expecting her to be crying or anything. But she was still emotionless. Usagi was tired of crying and nothing else could show how she was feeling so she kept all her feelings at bay.

"I don't want to be with Mamo-chan anymore since… since…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Then don't." Seiya didn't need to hear her say it so he interrupted her. "Pluto said everything will be better if you follow your heart right? Doesn't that mean that Chibi-Usa and Crystal Tokyo will be ok? Or do you not trust her words?" He smiled at her.

She slowly turned her head to see his eyes sparkling at her and his lips curled into a loving smile. She nodded and her own lips lifted slightly into a weak smile.

"So what is your heart telling you Odango?"

They continued to look at each other, staring into each other's eyes. Her own eyes started to twinkle and he knew her answer. It was the answer he was waiting for ever since he met her... she was in love with him.

They leaned in closer to each other. Their faces inches apart. Their hearts fluttering awaiting the kiss they both longed for. They drew closer and closer until… he put his fingers on her lips and stopped her. It was the most difficult thing he had to do – pull away from the one he loves.

He turned his head, "It's too soon right now." He sighed, "You're probably just confused since your break up and I don't want to rush you."

She turned away, hiding the tears that were forming in her eyes. She misunderstood and thought that he did not love her. 'Wait, why am I even sad that he doesn't love me?'

He saw her from the corner of his eyes at how sad she had become and it hurt him that it was he who made her upset. So he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him as his other hand lifted her face upwards to meet his own.

"I love you Usagi." He smiled so warmly and his eyes were filled with so much love. She only stared with disbelief as she saw in his eyes just how much he loves her. "Words cannot describe my love for you. But it's too soon for you to accept another love. So I'll wait for you. I'll always be by your side." And he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

Usagi closed her eyes and felt his kiss on her forehead. And she felt…complete. At long last, she understood her feelings for him. It was love. She had always loved him – loved his teasing, loved his silliness, loved his presence, love the way he makes her feel, love how he understood her when no one can… 'I just love Seiya.'

But she admitted to herself that he was right… no matter how much she loves Seiya, a part of her still loves Mamoru right now. Usagi knew that her heart needed to heal from her failed relationship before she can give it completely to Seiya. So she nodded silently and leaned into his chest as they just continued to watch the stars.

* * *

Hidden in the shadows of the trees, someone had been watching them ever since they left the Hikawa Shrine together. Tears ran quietly down his handsome face as he saw the couple together. His hands bleeding from his nails as he clenched his fist tightly. "Usako…" he whispered into the wind. Mamoru had been looking for her all day to talk to her about what had happened and couldn't find her until he saw coming from the shrine. Seeing that she wasn't alone, he just followed the couple. He saw the love and understanding pass between the two of them as they sat quietly watching the stars. 'I lost…' he thought irately to himself, 'I hope you take care of her Seiya.' He sunk back into the darkness as he walked home.

****Please review****


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Taiki and Mina woke up the next morning. Though with a slight headache, they were otherwise fine. Hotaru, however, was still extremely weak. Haruka had insisted that she stay in bed as the others tended to her needs.

"It felt like someone had plunged into my body and tried to pull all my organs out through my mouth," she shuddered at the memory and tears started to run down her cheeks. Haruka wrapped her hands around the little girl and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh Haruka-papa, it was so horrible. I thought I was going to suffocate! And when it came back into me I felt like I would explode!" Haruka flinched when Hotaru recalled the event but still, she managed to soothe the sobbing girl. Everyone grimaced at the thought of how it must have felt.

The senshi stayed in Rei's room for the rest of the day filling in Taiki, Mina, and Hotaru as to what they had discovered and discussing possible battle strategies if more were to appear. They finally decided that they need to speak to Pluto about it. But when they tried to contact her again, there was no answer.

"I wonder what happened to her." Michiru's elegant face was wrought with worry. Haruka noticed it and grabbed her hand to comfort her while still holding on to Hotaru.

"There is nothing we can do except wait for her to come to us. Why can't she just tell us everything for once?" Sighed Haruka.

"Where's Usagi-san and Seiya-san?" asked Hotaru when she stopped crying and looked at the group.

They all shook their heads telling the young girl that they didn't know. So she pulled out her communicator to talk to Usagi.

"Hotaru-chan? Are you alright?" Usagi's voice was excited and loud.

Hotaru chuckled and answered that she was fine.

"Are you still at Rei's? I'll come right now." Hotaru nodded and they shut off their communicators. The group waited until Usagi and Seiya arrived.

"Where have you two been all night?" Mina winked at the couple as they walked in. Both of them blushed and looked away. Their reaction raised a few eyebrows in the room.

"No…nowhere! Seiya just walked me home!" Usagi practically shouted back at Mina, "Never mind that. How are you feeling Mina, you too Taiki and Hotaru?"

Mina said smiled brightly and said she was fine as she clung onto Yaten. Taiki nodded and Hotaru smiled and said she was fine too. Usagi sighed in relieve and went to sit by the table and Seiya followed closely behind her.

Haruka noticed this and cocked her eyebrow, "Isn't it time we told Mamoru-san what's happening?" She knew of Seiya's affection for Usagi and he had earned her respect after the battle with Galaxia but Haruka still believed that her Princess should be with their rightful Prince.

"We broke up." Usagi's eyes were filling with tears again but held them back from falling from her eyes. She had decided last night that the only way she could move on from Mamoru was to tell everyone what had happened.

"Is it because of him?" Haruka pointed at Seiya. She was clearly angry but held back from attacking the Starlight since she was holding on to Hotaru.

"No. Seiya had nothing to do with this…." She went on to tell them about what she saw when she was at Mamoru's place.

"There must be some mistake Usagi." Rei placed her hand on her shoulder, "you must have misunderstood something. You two were destined to be together."

Upon hearing this, Usagi clenched her fists on her lap under the table. She continued but everyone noticed the bitterness in her voice, "I knew you guys would say something like that. That's why I didn't want to tell you but you all needed to know that I don't want to follow that destiny anymore. Even Pluto told me to follow my heart. She said everything will be alright so I trust her." Seiya placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her when she started trembling.

Haruka refused to believe that the destiny they had worked hard to protect was over… just like that. She slowly removed herself from Hotaru, "It's his fault isn't it? I should have known better than to trust you!" And she charged towards Seiya. Her fist was suddenly stopped by Yaten. Yaten had expected her to react this way and seen her move from the bed.

"Nothing happened between them. I was there when he picked her up after she broke up with Mamoru-san. She was such a wreck that if Seiya wasn't there, who knows what might have happened." He swiftly pushed Haruka's fist away making her back up. "Why are you forcing her to be with someone who clearly doesn't love her back?"

"Haruka-san, like I said… Seiya had nothing to do with this. This is my decision and I just wanted to tell you guys because I thought you guys would understand…" she sniffled a bit.

"I support your decision Usagi-chan." Mina walked up next to her and hugged her. "It would be unfair to you if you can't have happiness like we can. As for the future, we'll muddle through together. It'll turn out fine if we're all together." She smiled brightly at Usagi then at Yaten. Usagi understood what she meant – she was fine with Usagi and Mamoru's break up as well as approving her and Seiya's love. She nodded at Mina to show her friend her gratitude.

Watching them, the other girls nodded in agreement. Haruka just sat down again, closed her eyes and twitched her eyebrows. Michiru giggled at her lover.

"So what do we do?" Haruka huffed. Usagi smiled, realizing that Haruka wasn't going to argue anymore… at least for now.

"There really isn't much we could do except wait for another attack. I left my computer running to scan a 50km radius for the same energy readings I picked up from the wraiths. It can tell us where the wraiths will appear a few minutes before they show up." Ami told the group.

So the group started to disperse from the shrine as the day went by.

"So are you going to sleep over at my place again tonight Odango?" Seiya winked at Usagi as they walked down the street towards Usagi's house. Usagi flushed bright red.

"You wish pervert!" She pouted and walked faster. He laughed and chased after her.

"I know you want to. You can't get enough of me. Just admit it." He teased and tugged on one of her ponytails.

"Mou… you're so full of it! Besides, we're at my place now so goodbye!" She started to turn around to stomp into her house but he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. He quickly leaned in and planted a light kiss on her cheek. She blushed again while she placed a hand over the cheek he just kissed.

"See you tomorrow Odango." He whispered into her ears. He then stood back up and waved as he left. Usagi couldn't see the smug look that appeared on his face – he was proud that Usagi was dazed from his actions.

The next morning, he came to pick her up from school. As they arrived to class, they noticed that Naomi had not shown up for class. Taiki merely shrugged as Seiya gave him a questioning look and the couple sat down at their desks.

It was at lunch when they appeared again… wraiths. Ami's computer had beeped and she located the wraith's energy in the park close to their school. The four girls and three Starlights headed towards the park and hid behind some bushes to transform.

It was Jupiter and Fighter who fired the first attack at the wraiths that had just appeared. The creatures sucked up the attacks and fired it back. Mercury used her own attack to deflect the blowback from Jupiter and Figther's attack to protect Sailor Moon. In the mean time, Healer and Venus had used the distraction to jump behind the wraiths and blasted at them. The wraiths fell forward and attempted to get up until another attack shot through the air from the distance. The wraiths instantly froze in its spot.

"Sailor Moon, now!" yelled Fighter.

She pulled out her Crystal to successfully purify them. Venus and Jupiter wasted no time and towards the direction of where the last blast had originated… but their path was blocked.

It was Pluto.

****Please review****


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Hope you'll like this chapter =)**

"Usagi-san how are you feeling after using the Crystal?" Setsuna asked. They had all detransformed and went to Fruits Crown Parlour to talk to the elusive Setsuna. The group had decided to skip class, much to Taiki and Ami's dismay, given that they had more pressing matters to discuss.

"I actually feel fine. I'm not tired at all." Usagi answered cheerfully while sipping on her milkshake.

"That's good." Setsuna smiled at the cheerful girl and casually glanced over at Seiya as she sipped her hot tea.

"So where have you been Setsuna-san? Is everything alright?" Mina, being leader of the Sol Senshi, decided that it was her job to ask.

Ignoring the first question she answered calmly, "The wraiths are pure evil and they have come to this world to destroy it. You must all be prepared as more will be coming."

They all waited for her to continue, but she didn't so Mako cautiously asked, "Where did they come from?"

"I'm sorry. I cannot reveal that." Setsuna set her cup down and looked at it. She wanted to tell them but being the Time senshi, she could not reveal too much about the future. Especially when the future they were working for had fallen apart, leaving everyone dead or wishing for death.

"Why do they want to destroy Earth then?" Mako asked again getting frustrated with the vague answers.

"For all I know, they just enjoy pain and destruction." It was partially true.

"Who is that other senshi?" Taiki asked.

Setsuna knew they were going to going to question her about it sooner or later. She sighed, "She is only here to help. You should not have tried to go after her." Her eyes flared at Mina and Mako causing them to quickly look down in embarrassment.

"Why can't we know who she is if she's here to help us?" It was Ami's turn to ask.

"It is better for her to remain hidden for everyone's safety." She said simply. 'If Miya is known, he will target her parents and all our hard work will come undone…' she thought while sipping her tea. She knew better than to say but she added, "Please do not try to discover who she is anymore. She will come to you when the time is right and everything will be revealed to you then." She then got up and left.

Usagi, Mina and Mako tried to get up and follow her but were stopped by the Starlights who simply shook their heads. Even though they were not familiar with Setsuna, they recognized that she would not say anything else as did Ami.

"There's no use. We just have to trust her and continue to destroy these wraiths." Taiki stated.

"But if we work together we can figure it out together!" Usagi pleaded. The group secretly agreed that cooperating would be better but since Setsuna was insistent on being secretive, there was nothing they could do. They sat in silence for a few minutes

Thinking through all the information she was given, Ami replied slowly, "I think it's something that will affect our future so she won't tell us." Her friends looked questioningly at her so she continued, "She cannot reveal the future to us and since she cannot tell us about this senshi, she must have came from the future as well. But unlike Chibi-Usa who came to us for help, she was probably sent here just to protect us. And if Setsuna thinks we need help, it means that the enemy is very formidable."

Silence rung in the air as everyone tried to process this information.

"Considering it usually takes two senshi and Sailor Moon's Crystal to defeat one wraith, it's a very likely theory." Taiki added.

"I don't know if I should be insulted or not." Mako said teasingly and everyone laughed.

"Guess we'll find out when we need to. But I wonder if you Starlights will be with us in the future too." Mina asked, her eyes turning dreamy. And with that, the group spent the afternoon just chatting. After they had contacted the other senshi to tell them all that they had discovered, they parted ways.

* * *

Naomi had skipped class to spend the morning discussing the situation with Pluto once she woke up from her injuries. They were interrupted when Naomi sensed the wraiths and the pair transformed and headed out the door at once. But when they arrived, they saw that the senshi were already engaged in a fight with the wraiths. When the wraiths were hit with Healer and Venus's attacks, Miya (in senshi form) saw her chance to attack. Once she fired, Pluto pulled her back, "You shouldn't have done that Miya-chan."

"There was an opening so I took it." She was mildly offended by Pluto's reaction but understood why she shouldn't have fired.

"They're coming. I'll stop them from finding you. Now go." Pluto jumped out and stopped Jupiter and Venus in their tracks as Miya ran home.

Naomi was waiting for her in the apartment when Setsuna returned from her talk with the senshi. "Sorry Auntie Pluto."

"It's alright little one. Just be more careful next time." She smiled at the other girl.

"They're appearing more frequently now. I have a feeling they'll all be coming soon." Naomi's face darkened.

"I agree."

"Um Auntie Pluto…" Naomi trailed off, wondering if she should ask the Time Senshi for a favour.

Sensing the change in her voice, Setsuna smiled warmly at the girl and gently asked, "What is it Miya-chan?"

"Um… If the time comes that I use that power, can you…" she fumbled for a piece of paper she had tucked away in her pocket moments ago, "can you give this to my parents for me please?"

"Miya-chan…" Setsuna took the letter from the girl. Naomi had written it while Pluto was out talking with the senshi. In her moment of weakness, she thought that if she was going to die, she at least wanted her parents to know she had been watching over them and hoped that they would be proud of her. Setsuna understood Miya's intentions so she agreed, "I will give it to them when the time comes. I promise." She embraced the girl.

"Thank you Auntie Pluto."

****Please review**  
****Sometimes I think I built up the tension too much.. so I hope you won't be disappointed it when I reveal everything. Anyways please keep reading! I'll have the next chapter out soon =)  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Hey! I know I say this everytime but seriously.. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like this new chapter :)**

A week or so have passed since any of the senshi has seen Setsuna. There have been an increasing number of wraith attacks, but thankfully no one had been seriously injured.

"We can't keep this up!" Rei yelled.

The senshi and two of the Starlights have once again gathered together at Hikawa Shrine after school to discuss the enemy attacks.

"Where is Pluto? She knows what's going on and why they're attacking us so why can't she tell us so we can stop it once and for all?" Rei had become increasingly temperamental since she had attempted to fight a wraith the other day. She had been walking home from school alone when she spotted it. If the other senshi had not hurried there, she could have been killed.

"She's not responding to our calls anymore." Michiru bit her lip. She had been worrying ever since hearing that Setsuna had met up with the girls. She knew that whenever Setsuna was on Earth, she would at least stop by for a short visit with her adopted daughter Hotaru. 'What could she be doing?'

"How is Usagi-san holding up?" Taiki asked. Everyone was quiet. Over the past few days, Sailor Moon had been using the Silver Crystal frequently and everyone was surprised that she was for the most part, fine.

"She seems fine actually. She uses it as an excuse to sleep and eat more, but the effects of the Crystal aren't wearing her down like it use to." It was Luna who responded. She had been keeping an eye out on Usagi even since the first attack of wraiths. "But for a while now, I noticed someone outside her house late at night. I don't know who it is because whenever I try to get a closer look, they disappear."

"It's probably that senshi Pluto is hiding." Mina replied.

Luna's ears perked up, "What senshi?" she asked curiously. She and Artemis hadn't been around for very much ever since the defeat of Galaxia. No one really knew where they went but they were always in and out of town.

Mina answered again, "We don't know. Pluto was very adamant about keeping her a secret but insists that we just trust her that she's helping us, which she has. She always appears when there are wraiths and helps us stop it so Sailor Moon can purify them."

Luna spoke her thoughts aloud, "That's odd. I don't remember any other senshi from this system and Pluto would not trust an outsider easily. Are you sure she isn't the one bringing the new enemies here?"

"At this point, we don't know very much but we think she's from the future." And so the group went on to tell the guardian cats, explaining their theories and how Pluto might be with her.

"It's possible but still hard to believe though." Artemis spoke softly. "By the way, where is Usagi?"

"Detention. With Seiya." Yaten chuckled and Mina elbowed him in the ribs.

But Luna merely frowned, "She's spending a lot of time with him now. I'm worried what will happen to the future." Luna remembered everything about the Silver Millennium and how much Serenity loved Endymion; their long awaited union would bring peace to the Solar System.

"Pluto told Usagi that the future will be better if she just followed her heart." Mako stated.

Luna simply continued to frown while looking down. It wasn't until she felt someone poke her forehead that she looked up to see a pair of light green eyes staring at her…right in front of her face.

"Frowning gives you wrinkles Luna." It was Yaten. He gave the cat one of his most charming smiles as she blushed and turned away. Everyone giggled at the bashful cat and Artemis cleared his throat loudly to catch her attention.

"Anyways," Luna looked stern again, "I'll try to follow the new senshi when she appears again and find out who she is." And everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

Night fell. Everyone in the house was sleeping. That is, except Luna. She had pretended to be asleep all night in Usagi's bed to try and catch the person who was stalking the girl. It wasn't until a few hours before dawn that the guardian cat peeked to see a shadow in the tree across the room. She lifted her head slightly to get a better look but then saw the shadow start to climb down the tree. With haste, she bolted out Usagi's balcony to follow whoever it is.

Luna followed the shadow down a couple streets until she reached a building. It was an apartment building. 'How am I going to find which room she is in?' But she waited, hoping there was a hint as to which apartment the mysterious senshi would be living in. She was in luck as a faint light flickered from one window so she hurried to climb up the fire escape to reach it. As she neared the window, she noticed it was open and she peered into it. 'That's strange. No one is here.' Against her better judgement, she jumped through the window and hid behind the vanity that was next to it. The window quickly slammed shut. 'I'm caught!' Luna started to panic

"Don't worry Luna. We led you here because we need to talk to you." Luna had eased a little… she recognized that voice. It had been a while, but she still recognized it.

"Setsuna-san?" Luna peeked cautiously from behind the vanity to see the Time senshi walk out of the shadows across the room. Someone else was with her, sitting on the bed but she couldn't make out who.

"It has been a while." Setsuna smiled at the cat as Luna walked out to the middle of the room.

"What is this about? Who is she?" The cat frowned and nodded towards the other person.

Setsuna's expression had not changed. She simply kneeled in front of the cat in order to talk to her.

"We decided to lead you here because we need your help now. It was not our intention in letting anyone know our plans, but things have changed now." Pluto hesitated slightly. "We will tell you everything because you are closest to the Princess and she listens to your advice. But you must promise us that you will not tell anyone else. Not even Artemis."

"Why?" Luna raised her eyebrow.

"Because the more people who know, the more danger everyone will be in. I know that everyone loves Usagi-san very much and will help her no matter what. But Luna, you are the one she has constantly turned to for advice and probably the only one she will share her secrets with since you are always by her side. We need you to help her reach a decision. And hopefully, after you hear our story, that you will know which decision she should make."

Luna looked suspiciously at the older woman but the look on her face told her that she was sincere. She still had her doubts but agreed to listen to them. She jumped on the vanity and perched on the table as Setsuna sat down on the chair in front of it. She was about to start talking when the guardian cat held up her paw.

"Wait. Aren't you going to tell me who that is first?" As she looked across the room at the shadowed figure who had been sitting there quietly.

Setsuna nodded gracefully and turned to face the bed. "Come on over and show her who you are."

The person stood up and walked slowly into the light… it was Naomi.

"You're Usagi's new friend!" Luna's eyes widened with shock.

"Not exactly Luna-sama." Naomi gave Luna a slight curtsy. As a child, she had always been taught to be respectful when addressing any advisors of Neo Queen Serenity even though the future Artemis and Luna had told her she needn't be.

Luna was surprised at being addressed so formally and a pink tinge appeared on her cheek. She waited for the girl to continue. She watched Naomi touch the stud earring that was hidden behind her black hair and with a poof, she was holding the Luna Ball in her hands.

"Isn't that…" Luna started to ask but she didn't need to finish it as a faint white glow surrounding Naomi's body. And as quickly as it had appeared, in her place stood the small girl Miya.

Luna was left speechless as the two other smiled gently, trying to hold back a giggle at the cat's reaction.

"But isn't that Chibi-Usa's Luna Ball?" She had a lot of questions and things to say, but it was the only one that came out.

At once, everyone grew solemn and Luna noticed the change in atmosphere.

"She knew it would come in handy for me so she lent it to me and… and I modified it a bit." Miya answered while absent-mindedly fidgeting with the antenna on top of the ball's head. She looked away and bit her lip.

Pluto reached over and placed a hand on Miya's head to comfort her and continued in her place.

"Luna, please meet Miya-chan." Luna nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm sure you can guess who she is now."

"Yes," Luna's eyes never left the girl, absorbing every detail of her appearance, "she looks just like…"

****Please review****


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Don't hate me once when you read the first line... couldn't help but keep it a secret for now. SOON I PROMISE! it'll all be revealed very soon. OK GUYS! Thanks for the reviews! I'll do my best to keep it interesting for you :) ****Enjoy!**

"Yes," Luna's eyes never left the girl, absorbing every detail of her appearance, "she looks just like them."

Miya looked up smiling at the cat. She had always liked it when people said she was like her parents.

Letting Luna understand the situation for a while, Pluto spoke up, "You'll believe us now won't you Luna?"

"It will be easier for me now, yes." And for the first time since entering the apartment, she smiled.

And so, Pluto started telling Luna what had triggered the events in Crystal Tokyo and how the battle had started there. Miya stepped in little later to fill in what had happened when Pluto left to guard the Time Gates – how some had died and what had happened to the ones that were still alive when she left. She concluded with their plans to change the past in order to change the future. By the end of it, Luna was crying quietly in her spot while Pluto was staring absently at the rising sun as she listened. Miya continued to speak with an expressionless face, occasionally twitching and digging her nails into her palms in her fists that were resting by her side.

"That's impossible…" Luna sobbed as Miya finished. She looked at Pluto now, who continued to out the window, "the future you showed us before was a happy one Setsuna. We've been working so hard for it!" She almost screeched at her as the tears continued to flow freely down her face.

"I know." Setsuna spoke quietly at the window, "But that future had already changed the moment the Starlights arrived." She finally peeled her gaze from the window to Miya, "Miya-chan is proof of that. The Small Lady that all of you had met was the only child in the palace and she had no friends except Diana and the Sol Senshi. But now, after all that has happened, the Small Lady in the future now was born years later than she should have and Miya-chan has become her first friend. Those are the small changes." Setsuna turned to look at Luna with eyes reflecting the tears she held back, "we have told you everything Luna. Will you help us to persuade Usagi-san to follow her heart?"

Luna hesitated to ask what had been on her mind ever since they were explaining, "But won't Chibi-Usa…" she had to stop. She couldn't bear the grief-stricken look that appeared on Miya's face when she gripped the Luna Ball tightly that was floating in front of her. Tears were released from Setsuna's eyes as she also heard the name. They were all silent... Luna had gotten the answer to her question and fresh tears streamed down her face once again. They were all silent for a long time, lamenting at the lost of their pink-haired friend.

Attempting to change the topic, Luna asked what had been bothering her for the whole time, "Why didn't you just tell everyone the truth? It would be a lot simpler."

Setsuna sighed deeply, "I made the mistake of showing them the future once before and Usagi-san followed that path blindly, without considering her true feelings." She turned away once again, "If I tell her who to love again, Usagi-san will feel obligated to be with Seiya to save everyone, even though she loves him." She turned to see Luna and Miya's faces screwed in an attempt to comprehend her words, "If she reaches a decision by herself, her heart will not be confused and she will know without a doubt that Seiya is who she loves most. When her heart is no longer troubled, the Silver Crystal will shine the brightest. That is why we can't tell her the truth… we can only help her understand her feelings and hope she reaches the right decision. Will you help us Luna?"

Luna finally answered with her last sniffle. "I will help you." And the other two nodded.

"I have to go now." Miya finally said. She transformed back into Naomi and fastened the disguised Luna Ball on her ear. And with that, she left the apartment to head to school.

* * *

Naomi did not hurry to class. Instead, she walked slowly as she stared at the sky thinking about all that she has told Luna. It had brought back the painful memories that she had so desperately tried to suppress. But she was grateful that Luna was willing to help. She had never been particularly close with either of the guardian cats, but was still comforted in knowing that Luna was willing to help… it was a very small comfort though.  
Naomi had known that Luna had noticed her hiding in the tree a long time ago and was skeptical about her knowing the truth when Pluto suggested it. It was a logical decision that Luna should be told, but it was also a risky one since Luna had always been faithful in directing Usagi towards her duties as a senshi and as a queen. Pluto had rationally concluded that Luna was in the best position to help Usagi especially if knew the truth and the best way to convince her is Miya's true form. And their plan had obviously worked.

Naomi had strolled into class 10 minutes late but only stared blankly at the teacher as he told her to stand outside as well as detention after class. She left the room without saying a single word; her stoic face didn't even twitch when she was being yelled at. Everyone was baffled at her reaction… or more precisely, her lack of reaction. The teacher cleared his throat and continued his lecture.

Standing out in the hallway with the same blank expression, she stared out the window at the clear blue sky. It was a beautiful day out but she hadn't noticed. She was too lost in her thoughts. Ever since she had met everyone again, her well-guarded heart had started to waiver slightly to reveal her child-innocent heart. She started to feel like she was living again, enjoying the company of the ones she loved so much and just being a normal girl. But since the meeting with Luna, she had to face truth… face the most devastating truth that she hated to admit ever since she started this mission that she never wanted – she was going to condemn one of best friends, Chibi-Usa. And the thought of it sliced through the heart that had just started to live again. She was crying silently behind her emotionless face.

"_SMALL LADY!" A 4-year old Miya had poked the giggling pink-haired baby in the cheek. She pointed to herself and yelled, "MI-YA" unsuccessful at teaching the baby at speaking. Everyone in the room laughed._

"_Miyaaaaa" begged a 2-year old Chibi-Usa was running after Miya in a field. "Teach me! Teach me!" The 6-year old Miya was running away with a crown of flowers she had just made. She stopped suddenly, turned around and plopped it on the other girl's head. "Just get your Luna Ball to make you one!" she stuck out her tongue and ran away again._

"_Small Lady! We'll have another friend soon!" A 9-year old Miya said to the 5-year old Chibi-Usa. "When is he coming?" spoke Chibi-Usa as she started poking a woman's pregnant belly. A man and the pregnant woman chuckled, "Gin will be here in 4 more months" said the man as he placed his hand over his wife's belly. "GIN!" the two girls threw their hands in the air and shouted. The couple laughed again. _

Naomi sighed at the memories. 'Small Lady, Gin, I'm so sorry I couldn't rescue you." She clenched her fists tightly and swung her fist on the wall behind her. She had returned to her expressionless face and continued to stare out the window, not even noticing the teacher who had came out to see who had pounded on the wall.

* * *

Someone placed a hand on her head, bringing her out of her thoughts. Naomi turned her head and blinked at the owner of the hand.

"I never got to thank you for trying to help me win Odango's heart." It was Seiya. Students were coming out of class for lunch. She was so preoccupied with her thought that she hadn't realized that the morning was over. "Come on, everyone is waiting on the roof." He gave her his charming smile and started to walk away. Naomi could help but smile back and followed him up the stairs. 'At least I can help him.'

At the end of the day, Naomi watched everyone leave as she stayed for detention. Mako had left to go to her culinary class, Taiki and Ami went to the library to study, Yaten walked Mina home and Seiya did the same for Usagi. Naomi was happy that everyone was alive and enjoying their lives. However hard the future was, seeing them happy reminded Naomi what she will save despite all the sacrifices. She sighed and an hour later, she walked out the classroom. She was walking slowly down the street from school when...

"Oi Seito-san!" She didn't respond. Naomi was so lost in her thoughts that she forgot that she was in Seito Naomi's form. And since it wasn't actually her name, she didn't even realize someone was calling her.

"Seito-san wait up!" The person walked up quickly behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she yanked on the hand and swished around ready to punch her supposed attacker. Her fist stopped inches from his face as the person's free hand blocked the attack. It was Seiya again.

Withdrawing her fist immediately, "Sorry! Don't creep up behind me!" Naomi bowed and apologized profusely.

"I called you so many times but you didn't answer." She blushed and he chuckled, "You have good reflexes though."

"Ah... Thank you." She kept on blushing. "So, what are you doing here besides scaring girls?" she said teasingly.

He continued to chuckle as he spoke sarcastically, "As if I could scare you! Besides I'm sure girls would love to be scared by me," Naomi rolled her eyes and he smirked, "I actually came to walk you home."

She raised an eyebrow at him. 'Why is he walking me home?'

He understood her confusion as he started to explain, "You seemed out of it today so I thought you might want to talk about it. Besides you tried to help me with Odango before, so I want to help you now." He blushed a little and looked away.

Naomi was truly touched by his gesture; tears started to form in her eyes. She couldn't say anything to respond so she just smiled and nodded sharply. And so, the two walked down the streets of Tokyo as the orange sun was setting.

****Please review****


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy :) **

Seiya had never understood why he felt connected to Naomi. He knew it wasn't love because his heart only belonged to one girl. 'No. She feels almost like…' The boy had always been a people person and got along with everyone, but it didn't' mean he always felt comfortable with just anyone. She wasn't just anyone to him though '…almost like another Taiki and Yaten… like family.' He couldn't explain it.

"So how are you and Usagi-san?" Naomi asked. Over the past few weeks, she hadn't followed them around as often. She stopped because Luna was watching over Usagi and now that the senshi had found out about the break-up, she realized they would approve of their relationship if they ever even start one. Also, Naomi was too busy nowadays to constantly follow Usagi. She was busy dealing with the occasional wraith attacks as well as trying to control the new power that was inside of her. She knew what it is and what had caused it so she sought to control it which meant long periods of meditation to mold the power into her own. So she honestly did not know how Usagi and Seiya's relationship had progressed.

"It's alright I suppose," he blushed and absently scratched his cheek. "She still has feelings for him even after what he did to her…" he gritted his teeth but calmed himself before continuing, "but they have a long history together so it will take her some time to accept me."

"Oh. Well… as long as the both of you are happy…" Naomi didn't know how to feel at this point. She had hoped that Usagi didn't have anymore feelings regarding Mamoru but she knew that the girl had a bigger heart than anyone else – Usagi had a heart that was willing to forgive anyone, even those who had hurt her. Naomi sighed. Noticing her sigh, Seiya felt inclined to ask her how she's been doing.

"Never better!" Naomi faked a wide smile at Seiya.

He didn't buy it, "If you say so." A mischievous smile flashed across his face as he thought of a way to provoke her, "Someday my good-looks will melt Mimi-chan's cold heart." He turned and was about to wink at her when he saw her reaction. He was hoping that she would be blushing, laughing, or even teasing back. But what he saw was not one that he had ever expected – she looked at him in horror as a single tear trickled down her face.

"What did you just call me?" He could barely hear her as she whispered.

"What's wrong Seito-san?" Seiya frowned in concern.

But at the use of her fake name, she looked down at the ground and just shook her head. 'There's no way he could know who I am or even remember nickname.' She lowered her head even more so that her hair covered the tears she was trying to control.

Worried by her reaction, Seiya grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Please, let me help you."

At his words, the wall that was guarding her emotions fell. Until now, she had never let herself think or even feel – Naomi always forced herself to hold everything inside to complete her task. But everything she felt when meeting the senshi again… the thoughts of Chibi-Usa and the future… everything came crashing down on her at Seiya's words. 'I'm not alone… because even at this time when he doesn't know who I am, he's still here for me.'  
She sobbed hard as Seiya pulled her in and embraced her tightly. It had hurt him to see her cry so painfully. The pain was not like when he saw Usagi cry though… it was just knowing that a strong-willed girl, a friend, had broken down meant that it was something extremely upsetting. Being the kind guy he is, he just let her continue to cry in his chest.

After a while, she had calmed down. "Sorry Seiya-san, someone use to call me that and it just brought back a lot of memories." She continued to sniffle as he backed up a little from her.

"What happened?" He looked down at her and smiled, hoping to comfort her.

"He died."

"Sorry," he shifted uncomfortably, "you must have been close to him."

"He was my favourite uncle and one of my best friends. He was a lot of fun. You would've liked him." She gave him a small smile.

He smiled back, "I'm sure I would have." They walked towards the park a short ways away and sat down on a bench to continue talking. As they talked, Naomi thought back to all the times she had with her uncle – all the pranks, all their games in the garden, all the times he would tell her stories. There was one particular incident that she would never forget though…

_An older man and a young girl were strolling through a garden, laughing, "MiMi did you know how famous your uncle was? All the girls would swoon at his good looks!" He struck a pose as she rolled her eyes._

"_Sure they would Sei-jiji. Then why don't you have a girlfriend? I thought you would be able to pick anyone you want!" She teased but instantly noticed he had gotten serious._

"_I guess I could have," Seiya looked out into the distance and smiled weakly, "but I only wanted the one I couldn't have." His voice was full of pain and his eyes were unfocused._

_Miya looked at him curiously. "Who is it?" _

_Deciding to change the topic, Seiya looked back down at the girl and chuckled, "Mimi is such a curious girl!" He scooped her up in his arms and started tickling her. But from then on, Miya would know that her uncle Sei-jiji was thinking about 'that girl' whenever he held the same painful look on his face. She never brought up the topic again. _

The two continued to talk and laugh, watching the sky as it grew darker.

* * *

As usual, Usagi was staring out at the starry night lost in her thoughts. Many thoughts ran through her head as usual but tonight she had focused on a few. She was troubled by the fact that she still felt that she should be with Mamoru even though he 'cheated' on her. But now that she had realized her feelings for Seiya, she was happy… finally happy. All the discomfort she had felt the past year that they were apart had disappeared and she had found the peace that she lacked. She continued to gaze out into the stars and didn't even realize the black cat that had slid onto the balcony with her.

"Usagi-chan?" She spoke cautiously, trying to see if Usagi would allow her company.

Usagi just turned to see Luna staring at her with worry in her eyes. She smiled at her friend as she crouched down to pet her. "Luna."

Luna took it as her signal to continue speaking. "What's on your mind Usagi-chan? Maybe I can help you."

"It's just…" then she shook her head and said it was nothing while she plastered on a fake smile. Having known her for so many years, Luna saw right through it.

"You're concerned about all the attacks and the future aren't you?"

Usagi sighed and sat on the balcony floor, leaning on the walls of it as she looked back up at the stars again. 'Leave it to Luna to tell exactly what I'm thinking about.' She knew that she could always confide in Luna, even the dreadful secret she had kept for years. "Sometimes, I just wish I wasn't Serenity. I mean I'm glad that I met everyone because I am. But I've always wished that I was a normal teenage girl and now…" she trailed off.

"…you feel trapped in your destiny." Luna finished for her. Usagi nodded, clearly ashamed of thinking that way, a few tears fell from her eyes as she closed them. "It's ok Usagi-chan. You can change your destiny if you really want to." Luna laid a paw on the girl's knee as she continued, "the future is always changing but what hasn't changed is everyone's love for you. They all just want to see you happy."

"I know but we've seen what will happen and I love Chibi-Usa." She neglected to mention that she also loves Seiya, which Luna picked up on. The cat shook her head.

"And she loves you very much too but," a few more tears ran down Usagi's face, "I know she'll want you to be happy too. Pluto says the future will be better if you follow your heart right?" Luna stopped abruptly. She wanted to tell Usagi that Chibi-Usa will be fine or just anything that could comfort her, but she didn't want to lie to the girl. From her conversation with Pluto and Miya, Luna knew that Chibi-Usa would cease to exist if Usagi really followed her heart. The thought of it made her want to cry but she held back the tears to keep a strong front for Usagi. "No matter what happens, we'll get through it together. Like we always do." Luna smiled warmly at Usagi as her eyes were shimmering with tears.

Hearing her guardian/advisor comfort her, Usagi smiled, "Thank you Luna. You always know what to say."

"You know what is in your heart Usagi. You just have to listen to it. We'll all be here for you… always." Usagi picked up her friend and gave her a hug as she whispered thank you to her, Luna finally let the tears fall down her face.

****Please review****

**MiMi - NaoMI and MIya  
Sei-jiji - Ojisan means uncle in Japanese (kids actually use 'jiji' because it sounds cuter)  
**

**Hope everything makes sense now!**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Hey sorry, it feels like it's been a while since I updated... crap happened. OK enjoy! **

A few more nights chatting with Luna, Usagi had gotten visibly more cheerful. Everyone was glad that their friend was back to her normal bubbly self. And even during the occasional battles with the wraiths, Usagi wasn't feeling the same degree of exhaustion as before.

"I'm fine!" Some of the girls had asked her for the hundredth time after a battle, "I don't know why, but I feel the warm energy more than ever nowadays. Don't worry guys!"

Everyone was curious as to why she was feeling this way, but as long as she was alright they didn't question it too much. The Inner senshi had a sneaking suspicion to it though – they had noticed Usagi and Seiya were inseparable and wondered if he had anything to do with it.

"He was here during the battle with Galaxia and that's when Usagi first felt that way. And now he's back and she feels that warm energy again." Rei suggested. The girls were waiting for Usagi after class at Fruits Crown Parlour as she served detention for being late again.

"That's probably what Pluto meant when she told Usagi to follow her heart then. Usagi and Seiya's love is so strong that it fuels the Silver Crystal." Mina said as-a-matter-of-factly while sipping her milkshake.

"But what will happen to the future… to Chibi-Usa?" Everyone looked gloomy as Mako brought up this point. Even though they all approved of Seiya's love for Usagi, especially after they discovered Mamoru's infidelity, the senshi could not help but feel that King Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity would still rule together. They had seen their destiny and believed that no matter what happens, it would come to pass – Crystal Tokyo and Chibi-Usa is what they are fighting for. But now with Seiya, neither Crystal Tokyo nor Chibi-Usa was for certain anymore. It was difficult for them to simply accept a different future than the one they had been accustomed to for so long.  
They were brought out of their slump as Taiki and Yaten joined them, sitting beside Ami and Mina. The boys had stayed late to speak with the teachers about their upcoming absence when they will return to Kinmouku to speak with their Princess about their decision. They did not know how long they were going to be gone for, but they assured everyone that they will return as soon as they can.

"Seiya is waiting for Usagi." Taiki answered when the girls asked where Seiya was.

Yaten rolled his eyes and commented sarcastically, "Couldn't you guys guess by now?" His comment made Rei's eyebrows twitch furiously.

Fearful of Rei's wrath, Taiki quickly changed the subject, "We noticed the teacher put up the test scores for the provincial exam we had a while back. Ami and I are tied as usual." He draped his arms over Ami's shoulders and winked at his girlfriend, who just blushed beet red. "You won't believe who came in second though."

"Who?" Everyone was interested now.

"Naomi-san."

"EH? Wow she's that smart?" Mina spluttered. "She doesn't look like it."

"How can someone look smart Mina?" Mako shook her head at Mina's silliness. "But that's so great! We have to congratulate her tomorrow. Oh and congratulations to the two of you as well but we all expect it by now." She winked at Ami and Taiki.

"Where is she anyways? I haven't seen her in a while?" Rei asked. Being in a different school, Rei doesn't see her very often and even less now that Naomi was busy with other things.

"Probably in some library." Yaten sneered and Mina slapped his arm. Everyone giggled at the couple who were now not-so-secretly jabbing each other. That is, everyone except Taiki who was deep in thought… he had just realized that he has never seen Naomi in the library. He had noticed long ago that she doesn't pay attention in class and she wasn't even focused when they wrote their provincial exam. She was so spaced out that time that it caught his attention. 'Which means that if she actually tried harder at school she could easily have gotten first. Just who is she…?' Taiki frowned deep in thought but it was abruptly interrupted.

BEEP BEEP

Everyone turned serious as Ami's computer went off. "There's a large energy appearing by field near the amusement park! It's the wraiths. Everyone, transform!" Everyone nodded and ran out of the café to transform.

* * *

The sky had darkened considerably even though it the sun was still shining. As they headed to the field, they could see dozens of wraith figures who appeared to be engaged in battle with two other ones. When they were closer, they could tell one was holding a long staff with a red orb on resting on top of it and the other figure was a small child. The child attempted to hit a wraith with an attack and a moment later, there was a red flash and the wraith would disappear. But as they did so, another wraith had swiftly slammed into the child and held her down to the floor as they leaned in to suck out her energy. The other woman tried to turn around but was violently struck aside. She tried to stand but fell to her knees as she watched helplessly.

"Star Gentle Uterus!"

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

"Star Sensitive Inferno!"

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

Some of the attacks were absorbed and fired back while some had hit the wraiths surrounding the fallen figures. Venus and Saturn quickly jumped to their side to take the two to rejoin the others.

"Good to finally see you again Pluto!" Venus teased as she pulled her up. Pluto smiled weakly.

"Glad we made it in time for the fun." Uranus spoke softly to Neptune and smirked.

Neptune smirked as well, "You call this fun?"

"It's always fun when I'm with you." The lovers smiled briefly and turned back to face the enemy that were slowly surrounding the senshi group. Ami had contacted the Outer senshi, Usagi, and Seiya as soon as they picked up the energy. "We just have to hold them off until Sailor Moon comes." Haruka shouted and everyone nodded.

Venus and Saturn had pulled Pluto and Miya back to the group. Saturn had taken a few moments to look at the young girl but quickly turned her attention away. Saturn had mildly registered the similarity of Miya's appearance to two of the other senshi before the wraith started to attack. Her attention returned to the imminent danger instead.

Everyone was firing attack after attack and some had hit the wraiths while some blasted back at them. Mars, Mercury, Maker, and Neptune were thrown back as the wraiths had attacked them. Miya, Uranus, and Jupiter had decided to use close range attacks to fight the wraiths while avoiding capture. Healer was starting to lose consciousness since jumping in front of Venus to protect her from an attack. Saturn continued to block attacks whilst attacking with her Glaive. Pluto, weakened from fighting earlier, was losing the energy to send the wraiths to the future. Within moments, the senshi were battered but they never gave up – they believed they would be rescued as soon as Sailor Moon arrived. She is the light of hope for them and they will never stop believing in her. So they continued to fight until they heard another attack...

"Star Serious Laser!"

Sailor Moon and Fighter had finally arrived.

"Took you guys long enough." Maker teased and winced in pain.

Fighter smirked, "Better late than never."

****Please review****

**Sorry it's a little short. But the next chapter is when there's FINALLY some answers =) stay tuned!**


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Hi! Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy this new chapter! ;)**

The appearance of Fighter and Sailor Moon had given the senshi a renewed sense of hope. All those who were growing weak had stood back up to fight once again. They surrounded Sailor Moon and told her to hold back until they had immobilized most of the wraiths.

"Mercury." Miya caught her attention. Mercury looked at her curiously, "When you get a chance, use Shine Aqua Illusion instead. That will freeze them in place long enough." Although Mercury didn't know how the girl knew her attacks, she understood the logic behind using her old attack.

The wraiths charged at them and the senshi paired up to attack the wraiths, one would be the decoy as the other attacked. Once a wraith was down, Mercury would freeze them with Shine Aqua Illusion and soon half of the wraiths were encased in ice. But the senshi were weakening as well. Mars and Venus had been blasted off into the distance and as they skidded to a stop on the concrete, their skin were scratched roughly. Uranus had attempted to slice through a wraith with her Space Sword when it grabbed the blade and swung her violently towards a tree. Pinned against it, the wraith prepared to drive its hand into her body. Miya had ran to help Uranus when the wraith decided to merely throw the older girl at her. Uranus landed on top of Miya and knocked her out as they slammed into the ground. As Sailor Moon tried to protect the wounded two, the wraiths went after her.

"SAILOR MOON!" Everyone's cries rang through the air. She turned to look in horror as she realized her imminent capture – their twisted gray hands reached out… inches from her.

Suddenly a rose shot through the air between Sailor Moon and the wraiths. They turned to look at the new figure standing on a lamp post at the edge of the field. All the wraiths turned to look… they all stopped their movements.

His dark cloak billowing in the chilled air, Tuxedo Kame yelled at Sailor Moon, "Sailor Moon, NOW!"

Baffled at their sudden lack of movement, Sailor Moon nevertheless took out her Silver Crystal to start purifying the wraiths. The wraiths that were encased in Mercury's ice were destroyed easily. But this time she was having difficulties maintaining the power to destroy them all – her energy was fading quickly. Sailor Moon was struggling to keep the bright light from fading, but she couldn't feel the warmth that she sought this time. It was as if something… or _someone_… was clouding her heart, and thus her energy. Guilt and confusion crept into her heart, darkening the light… 'No! I have to keep going in order to protect everyone.' Determined, she looked at her friends that surrounded her.  
The wraiths had started to attack once again and those who were still engaged in battle were fighting to their last breath. Some of them were staggering from all the injuries while others lay unconscious. Her eyes rested on Fighter as the Starlight dodged an attack. It brought her back to the conversation she had with the Starlights during the battle with Galaxia.

"_But you'll never give up. Everyone believes in you!" Healer said looking away._

"_That's why they rest their hopes on you." Fighter continued, "…I believe you too."_

"_Me too." Maker said as she smiled at her._

"_Same here." Healer added._

'That's right! I can't afford to lose now. Everyone believes in me so I have to keep going. I have to protect my friends… I have to protect the people I love.' She closed her eyes to concentrate on releasing more energy. Images of Seiya had unconsciously floated into her thoughts and her lips curled into a smile as the light grew brighter and brighter.

When Sailor Moon opened her eyes again, it was all over. She did it – all the wraiths had disappeared. She watched as Saturn and Jupiter had ran to carry Mars and Venus, Maker was supporting Healer, Neptune went to pick up Uranus while Pluto had rushed to pick up Miya burying the girl's face in the crook of her neck. Sailor Moon smiled knowing that her friends were alright… then she started to fall forward. Fighter was instantly by her side and swiftly scooped her up into her arms. They looked at each other and smiled lovingly. Though tired, Sailor Moon still smiled weakly at Fighter before snuggling closer to her chest to rest.

Tuxedo Kame had kept his sights on Sailor Moon throughout the whole fight. He had seen her start to fall and wanted to go help her but he stopped himself… 'I'm not the one by her side anymore.' He looked bitterly at the couple, balled his hands into fists, turned around and walked into the night.

* * *

All the senshi had returned to Hikawa Shrine, patching themselves up and taking care of the unconscious ones. Rei and Mina were laid down to rest. Yaten was slipping in and out of consciousness but insisted on staying by Mina's side. Ami was sitting on the floor next to Taiki as she rested her head on his shoulder with his arms around her. Haruka had woken up moments ago and clutched her head in agony as she sat propped up against a wall with Michiru by her side, tending to her wounds. Hotaru and Mako were going around bandaging everyone's injuries. Pluto was resting in a corner with Miya (still in senshi form) passed out in her arms. Seiya had insisted that Usagi rest a bit so she fell asleep in his arms on his lap as he sat on the floor.  
Everyone was too tired to say a word – they knew there would be another time for an explanation.

In the middle of the night, Pluto had woken up. She looked at the girl she was still cradling. It was the first night in more than a year that Miya has slept so peacefully. 'It must be because she's around them.' She thought to herself. So without waking her up, Pluto had gently laid Miya on the ground as she stood up herself. Setsuna crept outside to get some fresh air and found Luna and Artemis were outside as well.

"Don't you think it's time to tell the others?" Luna raised an eyebrow at the woman, "especially now that they've seen her."

"You know what's going on Luna?" Artemis questioned and Luna nodded, "I thought so." His voice was soft but he wasn't angry.

"You're not mad that I didn't tell you?"

"I figured that you would have had a good reason to keep it a secret." He simply stated and smiled at her. He turned to Pluto and his face was serious again, "But given what has happened, I think you should tell everyone the truth."

"Yes, I think it is time as well." Pluto looked at them. "I will wait until Miya wakes up first though. She needs to rest. We all do." With that, she swiftly went back into the room and sat down next to Miya and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

"Pluto! Pluto!" At dawn, someone was shaking the Time senshi to wake her up. "We should go before the others wake up. Mako, Michiru, and Taiki are already awake and in the kitchen, but the others will wake soon."

"I think it is time we told them. He will be coming soon and they need to know everything. Usagi is not strong enough yet and we are running out of time. She needs to understand what is at stake now." Miya looked questioningly at her – she knew it was the truth but she still thought it was a foolish decision to tell everyone.

"We don't know how Usagi-san will react to it though. What if she chooses to return to him?" Miya pleaded, only to be responded by Setsuna shaking her head. But she refused to back down. "What if Usagi and Seiya just feel forced to be together, just like the destiny they were following before? What if they don't believe us? What if they don't like me…?" Miya stopped talking quickly as her eyes grew wide in disbelief in what she had just said – she had accidentally slipped out her true fear. Though she was concerned with everything else, she had recently begun to wonder whether or not her teenage parents would accept her willingly. Naomi was friends with them, but it was different to be friends than to be their child…

"Miya-chan." Her voice was stern. Setsuna chose not to address Miya's fears so as to refocus the girl. And Miya noticed Setsuna's tone and knew that she had no other choice. The girl bit her lip in defeat – there was never any arguing with the older woman. So she then transformed back into Naomi and sat back down quietly, worried about how the others will react when they reveal the truth.

Mako, Michiru, Taiki had decided to prepare breakfast and wait until the others woke. They figured that they will question Pluto and Miya once they were well rested. As they re-entered the room, they saw Pluto and Naomi there. Mako and Taiki stopped abruptly and exchanged a look of confusion – they could not understand how a 16 year old Naomi was the child senshi they fought alongside the night before. After a few moments, they silently continued to place the food on the table while often glancing at Naomi.

The five of them started eating the pancakes that was prepared. Michiru simply asked how everyone was feeling; since she had lived with Pluto for a long time, she knew that the Time senshi will not reveal anything unless she was ready. Pluto had given them a slight nod and everyone understood that they were to wait until the others were awake. But from the delicious smell of food, the others were already starting to stir.

"NAOMI-SAN!?"

"Mou… Mina you're so loud. Your voice is giving me a headache." Yaten was rubbing his head, clearly annoyed at being woken up so soon. But his comment earned him a slap on the back of his head.

"Meany!" Her attention returned to Naomi, "So what are you doing here? Are you that…?" Mina proceeded to ask but was stopped as Michiru gracefully raised her hand to silence her.

"We'll eat first." She smiled warmly at a grateful Naomi. No one argued with her since they were all starving. Usagi's stomach had growled so loudly just moments before she woke up that everyone laughed and they all enjoyed breakfast together in Rei's room.

"So are you going to tell us what's going on now?" Haruka had managed to keep quiet until everyone was finished eating after a little 'persuasion' from Michiru and Hotaru.

Naomi sighed. She was about to begin talking when Setsuna interrupted, "Why don't you show them who you are. It will be easier to explain that way."

The young girl bit her lip and looked around, as if wanting someone to stop her. No one did though. So she sighed again and touched the earring stud. It poofed into the Luna Ball at which the Sol senshi either gasped or frowned in confusion. And Naomi began to glow, transforming her back into Miya. Everyone's eyes bulged and stared speechlessly as they finally had the chance to really take in her appearance. The young child before them had large pale azure eyes with a slight tint of lilac. Her short, straight chestnut brown hair framed her heart-shaped face in exactly the same fashion her mother had her hair.

"You look like…" Usagi pointed to two of her friends but everyone had already turned their heads to face the couple who just stared dumbfounded.

Miya sighed, "Yes, you guys are right. I am the daughter of Taiki Kou and Mizuno Ami."

****Please review****

**AN: So? Were you guys right about who Miya is? :) Her senshi name is coming up! It was super confusing when writing with it but I didn't want to give anything away before now :P  
**


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Hi! Thanks for sticking with me for so long! Here is the BEGINNING of the long awaited revelation! Thanks for the lovely reviews and hope you enjoy.**

**PS - Rime means to cover something with thin frost (lol that's why I couldn't give you a senshi name for Miya until now... too easily linked to Ami) **

"I am the daughter of Taiki Kou and Mizuno Ami. My name is Miya Kou or Sailor Rime Star." The couple continued to stare as they began to blush furiously. Everyone else started giggling.

"Wow you guys are quick!" Yaten teased which was responded by a dangerous glare from Taiki. Ignoring him, Yaten paused and his eyes widened in revelation, "No wonder she got second on the exam!"  
At this, Taiki just placed his hand on his forehead, 'I'll never hear the end of this.' He wasn't ashamed of meeting his daughter – he was just annoyed by Yaten. But Miya saw him shake his head, thinking that he didn't want to meet her. Her eyes started to lower in disappointment until she caught Seiya's eyes. Seiya saw the look of disappointment on Miya's face; he smirked and cocked his head towards Yaten – indicating that Taiki was just peeved at the silver-haired boy. Miya's spirits lifted slightly as she understood his message.

"Aw Ami! She looks just like the both of you! I'm so jealous! I want one too." Mina was half hugging her still blushing friend. The Inners and Starlights roared in laughter as the Outers chuckled softly. However they stopped when they noticed how solemn Pluto and Miya looked.

"What's wrong?" Usagi, who was next to Miya placed a hand gently on her shoulder and smiled warmly at her. From the warmth she emitted, Miya couldn't help but return a smile albeit a weak one.

"It is best if we start from the beginning." As Pluto spoke, everyone grew quiet. She and Miya nodded at each other. "It all started after the battle against Galaxia….

_Days went by peacefully and the senshi no longer needed to transform. They were finally normal teenagers but even though this was what she wished for, Usagi felt uncomfortable around everyone – as if there was something missing in her life. She didn't understand why since she had everything she ever wanted. So every night, she sought comfort in the stars... the twinkling stars against the dark sky was the only thing that brought her peace. _

_When the Starlights returned a year later, everyone was ecstatic. They would hang out everyday and soon Taiki and Ami were dating, as were Yaten and Mina. Seiya would continue to tease Usagi but she never realized her feelings for him even though she enjoyed his company. And even though he was the only one that brought her comfort, she just thought it was because he was a good friend. So they remained just as close friends. And at the end of everyday, she would hesitantly return to Mamoru. Usagi loved Mamoru, she knew that… but she just didn't feel the connection between them anymore. It was as if she was only with him out of habit – detached and watching her life with no emotional connection. Mamoru however still loved her very much and started to notice that she was distancing herself from him. He had long realized the main reason they were still together was because of the future and Chibi-Usa. The thought upset him greatly but still, he did everything to cheer her up to no avail. _

_Even during their wedding a few years later, Usagi felt aloof but had plastered on a fake smile. Mamoru and Usagi had remained together to fulfil their destiny as King Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity. She thought she was happy and that this was everything she wanted. Everyone thought they were the happiest couple in the universe. But what they didn't notice was Usagi's fake smile, Seiya's broken heart, and Mamoru's irregular behaviour. _

_All the Starlights had decided to remain on Earth. As a result, when Crystal Tokyo was built they were given posts there as well. Serenity and Seiya had remained only as close friends. Every so often, Serenity would go missing but she would always be found with Seiya by her side. No one thought much about it since they were just friends and she was married… that is no one except Endymion. Even though nothing happened between Seiya and Serenity, It was killing him to know that his wife preferred the company of another man rather than himself. The anger was building inside him was continually fueled when he saw the two of them together. He knew that they were nothing more than friends, but he couldn't control his thoughts or feelings. _

_The distance between Endymion and Serenity delayed the conception of Chibi-Usa. But once Chibi-Usa was born, Endymion had seen a sparkle in Serenity's eyes that wasn't even there during their wedding. He was happy that their daughter was born but bothered by the fact that his wife does not have the same affection for him as she did for their child. He knew he shouldn't be jealous by his own child… but still, he couldn't control his emotions.  
Despite the problems, they were a happy family for a while. But Serenity gradually realized that all she had wished for had come to pass – Crystal Tokyo was built and Chibi-Usa was born. She felt as if her duty was complete so she spent most days away from everything and everyone – Serenity rarely spent any time with Endymion anymore unless she was with her baby. Her friends had noticed the strain in their relationship but whenever they asked, she would say everything was fine. And over time, Serenity started distancing herself from everyone else as well so as not to be bothered with 'meaningless' questions. Her only source of comfort remained the same though – her most trusted friend, Seiya. They would spend a lot of time in the gardens simply enjoying each others company. She never realized the pain Seiya held in his heart with her by his side, never to be with him. And Seiya never realized that Serenity didn't understand the love she had for him in her heart. _

_With his wife's continual absence, Endymion had completely taken over the reign of Crystal Tokyo. But since Crystal Tokyo was reliant on the power of the Silver Crystal, it was weakened considerably from Serenity's waning power. Because of that, no one had even noticed the silent threat approaching. But when they did, it was already too late…_

"We discovered that the Earth's star seed was corrupted by evil when it was taken by Galaxia." Pluto said. She avoided everyone's gaze when she told the story. No one had interrupted her until now.

"So you mean Mamoru-san is now…" Rei was unable to finish her sentence. Pluto nodded – the evil has already begun to grow inside the Earth prince.

"Is that why he did… _that _to me?" Usagi finally spoke. Tears were swimming in her eyes. She never imagined a broken future with Mamoru when they were together.

Miya shifted her eyes nervously and Pluto glanced at her. Everyone had noticed and they turned their attention to the anxious girl.

"Well my mission here is to make sure you follow your heart," her eyes flashed briefly at Seiya, "so I used the Luna Ball to pretend to be Naomi so I could get close to you and convince you that someone else was better for you." She took a deep breath before revealing the one secret she had kept to herself all this time. "Remember I was the one who convinced you to speak to Mamoru that day. I made sure you would be there when I was… when I was… _there._" Tears ran down her face as she remembered that night.

Gasps were heard around the room. Ami and Taiki were crying in each other's embrace as they realized the sacrifice their future daughter had made. Mina, Mako, Rei, and Hotaru were sobbing quietly. The others looked disturbed. Usagi however was in shock, perhaps even denial as she whispered. "But you… that wasn't you." Miya simply held up the Luna Ball and hid behind it. And Usagi's shock turned into horror as the truth dawned on her.

"I knocked him out when he opened the door. I was just planning to brainwash him into thinking he cheated on you and you could just see me there in the morning. But he was still groggy and he thought I was you so he…" A fresh wave of tears poured down her face as she slammed her head on the table and sobbed loudly. Pluto hugged the girl – she always knew Miya was dedicated to the mission, but Pluto had never expected the child to give up her innocence for it.

"I'm so sorry. I never knew." She was crying softly on her shoulder, "I could have protected you Miya-chan. I'm so sorry."

"But then," Usagi whispered ever so softly, "that means Mamo-chan didn't really cheat on me. He still loves me." Tears were close to falling.

Her words cut through Seiya's heart. He winced and looked away because in her voice, it sounded as if she was… relieved. Everyone else had noticed her tone and Seiya's hurt as they processed everything.

Upon hearing her Miya had pounded the table and screamed at Usagi, tears pouring down her face. After weeks of being patient, the usually calm girl had finally snapped. She too heard the tone of her voice and was so sick of Usagi's indecisiveness. "Why are you so stubborn!? Why can't you just admit you love someone more than you love him! If you go back to him, everything we've done will be wasted! There won't be a future for any of us!" Her words rang in the air.

"What do you mean?" Haruka raised an eyebrow at the screaming girl – the wind senshi had her suspicions about the whole story. After all, they had followed their destiny for so long that she couldn't see how it would change so suddenly.

Pluto understood her suspicions, "Galaxia and the Starlight's arrival changed the future. Our princess has developed feelings for another person and since Mamoru-san's star seed was plagued by evil, it made him jealous and insecure. Right now, I can see him struggling to control his emotions since he is still the kind Prince we all know. But over time, the evil will grow to corrupt his heart completely. From what we can tell, it seems that this evil only wanted to cause destruction and being the protector of Earth, Mamoru provided the perfect source of energy. Using his energy, it gave rise to the wraiths. We're not sure exactly how or when they were formed but they obey Endymion. "

"No wonder they didn't attack him when he arrived at the field yesterday." Michiru spoke softly and thoughtfully. She was trying to piece together all the information. "But what happened when they came to attack?" She looked at Pluto who merely turned her head at Miya.

Catching her gaze, Miya quietly sat back down and closed her eyes in frustration as she continued the story.

****Please Review****


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Enjoy!  
**

_Miya had ran to find Small Lady and informed Pluto about what had happened.  
In the mean time, the Senshi and Starlights were fighting against hundreds of wraiths that were swarming the palace grounds.  
Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune were outside the Palace trying to fend them off. But they were quickly overwhelmed and beaten. The wraiths had a hold of them tightly around their necks as the girls continued to struggle.  
Mars and the Starlights were each engaged in separate fights in the corridors. They had managed to immobilize a few wraiths but were still overpowered as their own attacks were fired back at them.  
Venus and Mercury found Serenity in the grand hall facing Endymion, who was clutching tightly on to the forearm of a crying Small Lady. _

"_Let her go! Why are you doing this Endymion?" Serenity yelled at the man who simply smiled at her._

"_I just want to protect the two people I love." He walked up and forcefully grabbed Serenity's face. "You know I love you and I love our daughter more than anything. I'm just making sure that no one will destroy our family." And for a moment, from his sincere smile… Serenity believed him. But it was short-lived as the doors to the hall flung open. The wraiths were dragging all the senshi and Starlights in. They threw all the defeated soldiers in the middle of the hall as hundreds of wraiths filled the hall around them. Serenity quickly ran down to their side, helping them up._

"_You! I should have known." Jupiter had gotten up and started to charge at Endymion._

_In one swift movement he had thrust his sword through her stomach. "Yes you should have." His face was impassive as she staggered back and fell to the floor._

"_JUPITER!" Screams and cries from her comrade were heard throughout the hall. _

"_Always the head strong one." Endymion sneered. It was followed by mad cackles around the hall. It died down as he spoke again, "My wraiths have taken over Crystal Tokyo and you senshi are now under my control."_

_He walked up towards the group and spoke gently to Serenity. "You'll never defeat me. You don't have the power anymore."_

_With a determined look on her face, she walked in front of the group and closed her eyes with her hands cupped in front of her. A light shone through her hands – the Silver Crystal. It was getting brighter and brighter, filling the hall. Endymion watched with a look of boredom on his face. _

"_Guys, we have to gather our powers to help Serenity!" Venus commanded. _

_The Sol senshi closed their eyes and concentrated. The Silver Crystal was getting brighter but Serenity had stumbled slightly as her knees weakened. Tired of waiting, Endymion pulled out his sword from Jupiter and walked quickly towards Serenity. Fighter had seen him and jumped out to protect her_

_He smirked smugly as his sword plunged through Fighter's chest. Endymion had known Fighter would die to protect Serenity and he moved swiftly so the Starlight would not have time to fire her attack. He pulled the sword from her body and Fighter started to fall._

_The light of the Silver Crystal had vanished. "FIGHTER!" Serenity had rushed to catch her as she fell. She kneeled on the floor, cradling Fighter's body. _

"_Odango…" she detransformed to Seiya and lifted his hand to caress her face. "Don't cry." He smiled softly as he finally told her, "I love you. I'll always love you…" His arms dropped as he drew his last breath. Dark crimson blood was steadily trickling on to her pure white gown but she didn't care… nothing mattered now. It was as if time stopped as she continued to hug and cry over his lifeless body. Serenity had never found out that Seiya loved her but now that she heard his confession, she was happy yet devastated. Knowing that he loved her, she felt her heart lighten. It was momentary though… as Seiya took his last breath, it was as if he breathed the life out of her as well. She felt her heart shatter as she cradled his lifeless body. It was then that Serenity finally understood her true feelings for him. Sobbing, she whispered back, "I love you too" Into ears that would never hear her. _

_But everyone else heard her; Endymion heard her and it made him furious. He yanked her away from Seiya's body, attempting to drag her out of the hall. Small Lady, until that point, was too afraid to move. But when she saw that her mother was going to be dragged away, she ran up to her parents and tried to stop him. Endymion paid her no attention and swiped his fist at her face, knocking her to the floor. When he exited the hall, the wraiths had surrounded the remaining senshi and Starlights to take them to the dungeons. _

By now, there wasn't a single dry face in the room. Mako and Seiya were shaking in anger after hearing their deaths. Usagi had buried her head in Seiya's chest while she cried; he embraced her tightly like he feared to let her go. Others were crying on each other's shoulders. Setsuna and Miya simply looked at the floor in pain while tears flowed from their eyes.

"Like I said before," Setsuna was trying hard to keep her voice strong, "Usagi-chan needs to follow her heart. Because she ignored her love for Seiya, the Silver Crystal was starting to lose its power. So when Seiya died," she hesitated for a brief second to compose herself, "the Crystal never shone again because Neo Queen Serenity lost the will to fight."

Haruka pounded her fist on the table so hard that a few of the drinks had spilt onto the floor. "We couldn't have lost! The rest of us are still alive!" She was trembling with anger. Michiru placed her arm on her lover's forearm and Haruka turned around to hold her.

Setsuna sighed. Miya shook her head violently as more tears streamed down her face.

_As they were being dragged to the dungeons, Uranus had materialized her Space Sword and broke the chains that were binding everyone. She, along with Neptune and Saturn charged at the wraiths so that the others could escape. Wraiths surrounded them and grabbed them, as if to tear their limps off. Uranus and Saturn had sliced through most of the wraiths' bodies but more surrounded them. _

"_Saturn, we'll hold them back. Go back to the hall and get Small Lady!" Neptune had shouted at her. Saturn nodded and jumped high above the wraiths to escape the herd. Some tried to catch her but were beaten down by Uranus and Neptune. It was the last time she saw her adoptive parents as they were swarmed by the oncoming wraiths. _

* * *

"_They're gaining on us!" Mars yelled. She was running down the halls with Venus, Mercury, Maker, and Healer. "I'll hold them off! Run!" She turned around and flames surrounded her as she threw her attacks._

"_MARS!" Venus yelled. _

"_Venus, keep moving. We're almost outside. We have to keep you safe!" Healer kept pulling her to run. They were running outside in order to escape to Kinmouku and from there they could strategize a counter attack. So they kept running in the dark palace… but it was so dark. They were close to an exit until Healer and Mercury were yanked to the side by a few wraiths hidden in the dark. Venus and Maker turned around and attacked the wraiths, only to be blasted back. _

"_Maker! Just take her and go!" Healer yelled desperately as she wrestled with the wraith who had grabbed her. But Healer's shouts were drowned by Venus's screams as she was thrown to the floor. Several more wraiths had joined the fight and overwhelmed them. Maker and Mercury were busy fending off the wraiths as Healer was trying to reach Venus to protect her. _

_But Healer was too late. The wraiths had slit open Venus's flesh as she continued to struggle and scream. Pinned down, Venus couldn't attack the wraith that had tore open her swollen abdomen and pulled out her baby. _

"_Gin…" she cried softly. And just before she fell into unconsciousness from blood loss, she saw the wraith fling her child aside. Then she heard two thuds as her unborn child hit the wall then landed on the floor… dead._

"_NO!" Healer released a strong burst of light and the wraiths surrounding her had stumbled back slightly, giving her enough time to run to Venus. She lifted her lover's limp body into her arms and sobbed. But she was careless… too wrought with emotion that she didn't notice the wraith that ran its hand through her back, straight through her body. Healer's body fell forward, landing on top of Venus. _

"_Venus! Healer!" Mercury and Maker had seen from the corner of their eyes what had happened. They didn't even have time to mourn for their friends when Mercury was struck in the head. She fell and Maker tried to rush over to pull her up. She had foolishly fired an attack before running to Mercury's side. Her attack was fired back at her, hitting her squarely on the back of her head. Her body flew forward in front of Mercury. She was killed instantly._

_Lying on the floor, Mercury started crying as she stretched her hand to reach Maker's body. She had lost hope of defeating the wraiths when everyone around her fell. She just wanted to touch her lover one last time. "Taiki. Miya." Inches from Maker, Ami looked into her husband's dull lifeless eyes for the last time. And a wraith plunged into her chest to rip her heart out. _

"I went to pick up Small Lady and we had disguised ourselves as wraiths. We were heading outside when we saw them." Miya spoke as calmly as she could but tears were still streaming down her face as she recalled the death of her loved ones. She knew if she lost control now, she wouldn't be able to continue again. "Gin was 8 months along. He never even took a first breath."

Yaten and held on so tightly to Mina that his knuckles were white as he buried his face in her hair, crying quietly. She didn't feel his tight grip though… she just bawled loudly into his chest. Ami and Taiki were holding each other as they looked heartbreakingly at Miya with tears pouring down their faces. Miya avoided their gaze – she couldn't bear to see them like that.

Afraid of the answer, Rei whispered, "What happened to the rest of us?"

****Please review****


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: HEY! Thanks for the reviews! Hope you'll like this chapter too! (sorry I can't explain myself well enough to show you the images in my head but you get the idea) OK ENJOY!**

_It had been a few weeks, maybe even months but they had lost count. Serenity was locked up her bedroom where Endymion would abuse her everyday. She had never fought back though… she had lost the will to fight ever since Seiya died in her arms. After years of feeling trapped in her destiny, she had already started to lose hope in life. But now that Seiya was truly gone, she finally gave up. And Endymion was starting to get frustrated at her unresponsiveness that he took it out on her by slashing his sword on her pale smooth flesh. He never cut deep enough to kill her but it was enough to leave large scars and gashes. Unfortunately, Small Lady had hidden in their bedroom one day and she witnessed it. She cried loudly which annoyed Endymion. He beat her senseless until she stopped crying. But everytime after he hit her, he would apologize to his daughter and hold her tightly saying he didn't mean it. _

_The remaining senshi were held in dungeons below the palace, but their screams were heard each and every day as it rang through the dark corridors.  
For a while, Mars had fought back the wraiths' daily tortures. But as the days went by, she was so badly burned by the rebound of her own attacks that could barely move. The wraiths took pleasure from slowly breaking every bone in her body, making her feel each break. After several months, she just laid on the dungeon floors waiting for death but never receiving it.  
Venus was taken to a separate cell. She never moved, not even when the wraiths came to torture her. She would just lay there, thinking about death of her husband and unborn child. No physical injury they inflicted could hurt her as much as the pain of losing them.  
Neptune and Uranus were chained in the same cell but far away from each other. The wraiths were instructed not to go near Uranus. Instead, they brutally mutilated Neptune... in front of Uranus. Several months had passed and she was barely recognizable from all the bruises and cuts. And Uranus could do nothing but watch as they tortured her lover everyday, begging for them to stop. But the more she begged, the harder the wraiths laughed as they tortured Neptune even more. And each time, Neptune's screams would fade as she lost consciousness from the pain and would not wake until the next day just to have the wraiths torture her once again. The once proud and strong Outer senshi were broken. _

_Saturn was captured when she went looking for Small Lady during the initial attack. But after a few months, she had escaped. She ran into Small Lady's room and found her and Miya huddled in the corner. They all ran out to the gardens in an attempt to escape. After a while, they realized they were followed so Saturn told the two to hide. As the younger girls hid behind the trees, Saturn stood to face the wraiths and Endymion. "I'm going to destroy everything." Deciding to release her powers of destruction, she raised her Glaive… but she was too slow. The wraiths had already swarmed her and knocked her to the ground. They choked her until she was unconscious and carried her back to the palace. It was the last time the girls saw Saturn. _

_Seeing her friend being dragged away, Small Lady had accidentally sobbed loudly. Endymion heard her and turned around to head towards the sound. Rime Star told Small Lady to be quiet then jumped out in order to distract the enemy. "You're still alive." His voice was cold and his face expressionless. She tried to fight him as she threw attacks at him, but he avoided them all easily. She saw him swing his sword and she jumped to the side to dodge it but she was too slow – It caught her stomach. Her flesh was ripped away, all the way down to her ankle as the sword pulled away. He stared silently at her as she lay on the floor bleeding uncontrollably. There was no emotion on his face as he turned away to leave. Small Lady had hurried to Rime Star's side after Endymion left and commanded the Luna Ball to heal Rime Star. She survived but it had left her the huge scar that ran down her side._

Haruka was holding Michiru and Hotaru closer as the two wept by her side.

"Small Lady then transformed me into a wraith to keep me hidden." She shuddered at the memories of living as a wraith – she recalled the feeling of darkness whilst living amongst them… and for a brief second, she felt her heart being consumed by a shadow.

"I stayed by the Time Gates to prevent the wraiths from contaminating the timeline. I had sealed myself in there so I couldn't even go help. But I still kept in contact with the girls, hoping to come up with a plan. It was then that I devised a way to send one of them back to this time without anyone detecting. It took a lot of time to prepare for it and we had to time it perfectly so that she would appear just before the Starlights returned to Earth. We had to keep Miya hidden because if Mamoru-san knew of her, then his future self, Endymion would know as well and instruct the wraiths to focus attacks on Taiki and Ami."

"Why didn't Chibi-Usa come?" Usagi asked.

Pluto had expected that question. "Endymion has Small Lady guarded by wraiths. So if Small Lady disappears, he will know. Since he thinks that Miya is dead, he won't be looking for her." Pluto hesitated, deciding whether or not to tell Usagi what will happen to Chibi-Usa, "Small Lady could never hurt you or Mamoru intentionally because despite everything that Endymion had done, Small Lady still loves him as a father. She's just like you Usagi-san – her heart is willing to forgive and even love the people who hurt her."

"But what will happen to her now?" Hotaru had whispered so quietly but they heard it clearly in the silent room. Deep down, everyone knew the answer but their suspicions were confirmed when Miya bit her lip and stared away as Pluto closed her eyes and shook her head. Hotaru burst into tears knowing that she would never see her best friend again. Everyone else had turned miserable with this knowledge. Usagi had taken it the hardest as she started to shake and cry uncontrollably. Seiya had wrapped his arms around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her. She flinched hard and brushed his arm away.

"No. I can't do that to her. I can fix my relationship with Mamo-chan and Chibi-Usa will be born again." She continued to shake her head and sob.

There was something that Miya had yet to tell Usagi – it was a message from Chibi-Usa. Miya had thought to keep this message to herself unless she was forced to tell it. She knew that no one… no _parent_… should hear it but after hearing Usagi say that she will return to Mamoru, she had to tell her. Miya was shaking in anger but kept it under control. From before, she knew yelling at Usagi will not dissuade her from her decision to be with Mamoru. This message was her last resort. She stood up sharply and walked over to Usagi, keeping her head down while keeping her voice quiet, yet strong.

"Small Lady knew you were going to say that. She said she wants you to be happy with the one you love. She also told me… she told me to tell you that even if you ever decide to return to Mamoru-san, don't give birth to her because she doesn't want to be born anymore!" The young girl bolted out the room, leaving Usagi in shock. She had loved her daughter so much; the thought of seeing her again was the only thing that kept her going the past year after the Starlights left. But now, Usagi believed that own daughter hated life so much that she asked not to be born… and the thought upset her greatly. She buried her head in her hands as she grieved for the pink-haired child that would never exist.  
In fact, Chibi-Usa didn't hate life… she just wanted to prevent Usagi from being with Mamoru. Since she knew her mother only remained with her father for her sake, Chibi-Usa was willing to sacrifice her life in exchange for the lives of everyone else. Erasing herself from existence, Chibi-Usa hoped to discourage Usagi from following 'destiny' and follow her heart instead.

Seiya sighed and stood up to follow the girl who had ran out the door. Seiya knew Usagi would not welcome his comfort so he decided to speak with Miya instead. Taiki and Ami started to get up as well, but he told them he would bring her back. They nodded and sat back down.

He found Miya sitting on the top steps of the shrine, her head laid on her knees that she pulled to her chest. She wasn't going to cry anymore… she was tired of crying so she sat quietly. He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, making his presence known to her.

"Seiya…" she lifted her head to see him smiling at her.

"It must have been hard but we're all here now." Hearing his kind words, she smiled weakly at him. They turned to look at the now night sky in silence until she spoke up after a while. He could hear the strain in her voice, trying to be strong.

"I told Small Lady that she should have been the one to come. She's a princess and I'm suppose to protect her but I left her there alone. She should be the one here, not me."

"That may be true," Seiya continued to stare at the sky, "but I'm glad I met you even if you were Seito-san at the time. We had fun." He turned to face her and he saw her eyes glisten with tears of joy.

Her whole face lit up as she smiled, "You've always been my favorite uncle Sei-jiji"

"Of course I am Mimi." He winked and smiled lovingly at her and pulled her in for a hug.

In his arms, it reminded her of all the time he tucked her into bed when her parents were busy working. Miya felt safe and comforted as she remembered the peaceful days of her short childhood. She started to hum a tune that her Sei-jiji or parents would sing to her. Seiya recognized it has an old lullaby from Kinmouku… one that the Starlights sang for their Princess Kakyuu when she was a child. He joined in to sing whilst pulling her onto his lap. As Miya fell asleep, Seiya brushed the hair from her face and finished the lullaby gazing at the stars. Holding the sleeping girl tenderly, he stood up and headed back inside the temple.

****Please review******I'm sure you know the drill by now ;)**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy :)**

Usagi was crying as she repeated "Chibi-Usa" over and over again. Everyone had tried to talk to her about it but to no avail.

Finally, it was Rei's words that affected her the most, "If that is Chibi-Usa's last wish, you should honor it Usagi." Usagi slowly raised her head and stared wide-eyed at her, "She wants you to be happy Usagi." Like she did so often, Rei placed her hand on the weeping girl's head in a caring manner and smiled at her friend.

Moments later Seiya carried the sleeping Miya into the room. He gently passed her to Ami who cradled her and looked lovingly at her sleeping daughter. Taiki leaned over to brush a few strands of her brown hair from her face. As Miya shifted to cuddle closer to her mother's warm body, her shirt lifted slightly and it was then that Taiki saw the pale thick line that ran down her side. He lifted her shirt a little higher then proceeded to lift the bottom of her long pants to see her ankle. He cringed at how wide the scar was. Ami had noticed what he was doing, "It must have been deep if it's still so clear on her skin." Her arms tightened protectively around the sleeping girl.

Although she didn't want to interrupt their family moment, time was running out so she had to continue. Setsuna cleared her throat loudly. Everyone took it as cue to focus again as she forced herself to continue the story, including Usagi even though she continued to sniffle quietly.

_Thought to be a wraith, Miya was assigned to guard Small Lady and late at night, they would communicate with Pluto to devise a plan. It was then that Miya was picked to complete their mission. The girls tried to be as quiet as possible whenever they spoke. "Miya take my Luna Ball with you. It'll help you." There was no hesitation when Chibi-Usa spoke. _

"_But you need it to protect yourself!" Miya protested._

_Chibi-Usa shook her head, "You'll need it more than me and it'll help you." The pink-haired girl smiled, "and it will be something to remind everyone about me." She knew of her fate if they were to continue with their plan but at the age of 5, Chibi-Usa had gracefully accepted it in hopes of a better future for everyone. "Don't make me order you as a princess Miya." Even with Chibi-Usa's teasing, her words brought tears to Miya's eyes. _

Everyone had turned to look at the Luna Ball that lay idly on the floor. Even if it hadn't been there, they would never forget the lovable pink-haired Chibi-Usa. The Sol Senshis were so proud at how mature Chibi-Usa had become to accept her fate, as difficult as it may be.

_So for weeks, Miya had modified the Luna Ball for it to accept commands inconspicuously and hold transformations for longer periods of time. Miya had also taken the time to construct a new minicomputer fashioned after her mother's one. Being the daughter of two geniuses, she was able to accomplish both tasks easily. It was then that she left the computer scanning when she was amongst the wraiths – she knew it was important to collect as much data as possible to find ways to defeat them more efficiently. Since Miya was in close proximity to them, it was the perfect opportunity for her to do so. _

"And now," Setsuna continued, "I have sealed the Time Gates to escape here when they attacked me there. It seems that the seal is slowly breaking down though. It will only be a matter of time before they all come here."

When Setsuna had finally finished the story, Yaten had to ask the question that was bothering him, "Why didn't you just eliminate the source of the problem now when you have the chance here?" Everyone had gasped at his unsympathetic comment. Even Mina was somewhat frightened by the comment and the cold look that appeared on her boyfriend's face. He noticed that he scared her when she looked at him while still in his arms. But he didn't care… Yaten was determined to keep Mina safe especially after hearing what happened to her and their unborn son.

"Right now, Mamoru-san is still the kind hearted Prince we all know… I cannot bear to kill him even though I know what he will become." Setsuna looked at the sleeping Miya as she continued, "She wanted to though. But for a child to take another person's life is just... I guess I just hoped I could save her innocence. But now that I know what she sacrificed to break them up..." Everyone hung their head and Yaten looked ashamed for asking such a question. "Nevertheless, the evil corrupting Mamoru's star seed would protect him if we ever tried to harm him. It would be extremely difficult so we decided that this way would be better." She turned to look at Usagi and smiled, "Besides I wouldn't think our Princess here would want us to kill him either." Usagi nodded in agreement.

"Setsuna is right," Mina looked up at her boyfriend and she wiped the rest of the tears from her face, "we are the senshi of love and justice. We can't just abandon one of our friends when they need us. Mamoru-san needs us more than ever now. We have to help him!" Her face was blazing with determination. It was contagious. Everyone wiped their tears and nodded – everyone was determined to help Mamoru… their friend.

Although the Starlights were more sceptical by nature than the Sol senshi, they all knew what Sailor Moon was capable of. And Usagi was determined now more than ever.

"Even if I won't be with him, I still love him like I love everyone here." She turned to look at each and every person in the room. Her eyes had momentarily lingered on Seiya but he didn't understand the expression that formed on her face. "I know that he can be saved. I can still feel the shine he always had so there's still hope. There's always hope. I will never give up." She smiled brightly at everyone. It was as if the light and warmth from her resolve enveloped them… everyone felt a new sense of hope and courage. No matter what happens, they know that there is still hope if they don't give up.

Suddenly, Miya's eyes shot open though her face was calm. "They're coming." No one had noticed the slight quiver in her voice. Everyone just stared at her questioningly but it was answered shortly.

BEEP! BEEP!

Miya got up from Ami's arms as the older girl took out her minicomputer. Horror grew on her face as she analyzed the information. "No… this can't be happening." Her voice was soft, but the terror in it was unmistakable. "Wraiths." She looked up at Miya hoping that the girl would say the readings were wrong.

But Miya looked gravely back at her and nodded, "Hundreds, probably thousands of them."

****Please review**  
Sorry it's so short. I'll update soon though!  
**


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: Told you I'd update soon ;) Enjoy! **

On the top steps of Hikawa Shrine, the senshi looked out to the entire city. The sky was growing darker with each passing second and soon, they heard the first of many screams.

"Everyone, transform!" Usagi shouted. Within moments, they had all transformed and ran down the stairs.

"It looks like they they're all appearing from the Juuban Park. They opened a time rift there." Mercury informed the group as they headed to the park.

"We'll hold them off as much as we can so Sailor Moon can gather her energy to destroy them." Everyone nodded at Uranus's instructions and continued to run.

Before they arrived to the park, they encountered a few wraiths which were easily defeated since the senshi outnumbered them. But the closer they ran to the park, the darker it got. The evil aura of the wraiths had blocked out the shine of the moon and stars, leaving only the street lights to light the way. The sound of their boots clanked loudly in the silent night. No one dared speak, but there was nothing they could say to encourage one another as they neared the park… the stench of blood was pungent in the air. The smell made them sick to their stomach but they pushed on.

The senshi were close to the park when they saw outlines of thousands upon thousands of wraiths... and someone else. There was a figure standing in front of the horde of wraiths. Although the senshi couldn't see the person's face, they recognized the top hat and the long billowing cape – it was Tuxedo Kame. He turned around as he heard running and saw the senshi.

"What's happening?" he shouted, confused that the wraiths had stopped moving when he arrived moments earlier. But as soon as he turned to face them, the wraiths also turned to face the senshi. From the open mouths of the wraiths, an ear-splitting shriek filled the air as they started to charge at the oncoming senshi. The senshi had stopped in their tracks and surrounded Sailor Moon, ready to fight. The wraiths gathered around Tuxedo Kame, Sailor Moon, the Sol Senshi, and the Starlights but all had not yet attacked. Everything had suddenly become quiet in the dark, dark night. They held their breaths, waiting for an attack… fear growing with each passing second.

A dark shadow that no one had noticed smirked. It was hidden behind a nearby tree, waiting until everyone had arrived. It started to move out and the light from a nearby lamp had caught his handsome face.

"It's been while everyone." They all turned at the new voice as some of the wraiths made a path for him. Endymion glided up just meters from the group. His eyes were kind, smile was charming, and he was handsome in his king armour. All the girls frowned but Tuxedo Kame was in shock, never suspecting that his future self was behind all the attacks, 'No wonder they never attacked me.'

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this," Endymion started to speak. Though his face was gentle, his voice was devoid of the same gentleness, "but you changed me Usako." His eye twitched ever so slightly – it had been years since he had used his nickname for her.

"What are you talking about?" Tuxedo Kame walked up to speak to his future self. "Why are you doing this?"

Endymion turned his head slowly to look at Tuxedo Kame, taking in every detail of the man as he did. His smile fell slightly, "Small Lady is gone. I'm sure you've already guessed that." Both of them glanced quickly at Fighter and Sailor Moon. Fighter frowned and Sailor Moon just bit her lip as if the pain from her bite would stop the tears from flowing. But Endymion wasn't interested in them. Instead he saw something, or rather _someone_, who caught his attention.

"You're still alive." Just as if she was back in the gardens facing him before he sliced his sword through her, his face was expressionless and voice cold. Rime Star tensed at remembering the pain of his sword carving through her flesh. Maker stepped in front of Rime Star to cover her; she didn't want the man to even look at her future daughter.

But Endymion regarded her as irrelevant and simply turned back to Tuxedo Kame to continue speaking, "She gave up on you but you still love her. You love her so much that it hurts." Although he was speaking to his past self, it was more like a message to the others. Sailor Moon started to reach out as if trying to touch Tuxedo Kame but someone caught her hand.

"Don't." Saturn spoke softly. She watched the wraiths carefully, observing for any movements. And when she found none, her sight returned to Tuxedo Kame and Endymion.

Endymion eyed them suspiciously but ignored it as he continued to speak, "I still love them, Serenity and Small Lady. I will always love them." He meant it – he never doubted his love for them. Tuxedo Kame nodded curtly. Hearing his confession, Sailor Moon had let the tears run down her face.

"Pluto," Rime Star whispered so quietly that no one else heard her, "soon." Pluto nodded in understanding. She gripped her staff tightly and saw from the corner of her eye that Rime Star moved her hands to clutch her chest gently, collecting all her energy.

"She doesn't love me anymore," Endymion clasped the hilt of his sword as he frowned slightly. The senshi noticed the wraiths shifting closer… slowly. "Why?" He turned to look at Sailor Moon again. As she started to apologize, it was Tuxedo Kame who raised his hand to stop her.

"It's ok Usako." He turned to smile warmly at her, fighting to hold back tears in his eyes. "I understand."

Endymion's head turned sharply, "Do you?" He saw that Tuxedo Kame was clutching his fist tightly and knew that he was struggling to control the darkness in his heart. "You feel it don't you?"

Tuxedo Kame looked to the ground still clutching his fists in anger, blood dripping slowly from the nails digging into his palms. The corners of his lips lifted slightly, 'Of course he knows. He's me.' He nodded in response.

"It's because of her that I became… _this_." Endymion gestured to the wraiths. Everyone, including Pluto and Rime Star, was shocked that he sounded disgusted with himself. Pluto and Rime Star had never thought that he regretted any of his actions. But maybe… just maybe… Endymion still had some good left in him. His face quickly returned to an expressionless one, "But that doesn't matter anymore. It'll all be over soon."

He disappeared into the darkness of the charging wraiths. The senshi immediately jumped into action, firing attack after attack. But each attack was fired back at the senshi. They could do nothing but dodge each other's attacks and avoid being caught by the wraiths. Uranus and Saturn had taken to slice through the wraiths and the Starlights were able to move with extraordinary speed and fire right into the wraith's bodies. But the sheer number of wraiths was overwhelming – they were no match for thousands of wraiths.

Pluto had stayed back to protect Rime Star who had yet to move. Finally she removed her hands from her chest. And there, in front of the pale grey star on her uniform, was a bright glow. It was her star seed. It was pale azure, almost clear in color but the shine was unusually golden. The light pulsated through the darkness with intensity. Everyone including the wraiths had stopped in their tracks, determining the source of the light.

The energy from Rime Star chilled the air. Everyone felt the cold nipping on their skin, but the gold light provided them a sense of warmth in their hearts. The Inner senshi and Sailor Moon were stunned, even confused, as they recognized the familiar golden energy resonating from Miya's star seed.

"But that's impossible…" Endymion whispered – his face clearly a mix between shock and dread. But he was brought out of his thoughts as the golden light began to shine brighter.

The wraiths shrieked and attempted to charge forward at her but the light flared slightly and Rime Star yelled, "Pluto!"

Without wasting a second, Pluto raised her staff and the orb shone. Red light contrasted against the golden light and engulfed each senshi and Tuxedo Kame and they disappeared.

****Please review****


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Makes me so happy that you like it :) Enjoy this new chapter! **

"Where are we?"

When their eyes adjusted to the light, they realized that they were standing in front of a giant marbleized door decorated with moon symbols. The Inner senshi and Tuxedo Kame recognized it immediately from their previous visit; the Outer senshi had never seen it before but also knew where they were. The Starlights however had no idea where they were and Yaten had asked the question on behalf of his two friends.

"We're at the Time Gates." Pluto answered simply. Her back was to the group as she examined the gates. She frowned at the damages – there was no doubt that Endymion and the wraiths had tried to destroy it but failed. 'Why were they trying to destroy it?' She sighed and decided that it was pointless to dwell on it.

"Wait," Maker looked around when she noticed someone missing, "where's Miya?" Upon her words, everyone else had just noticed that the girl was not amongst them.

Pluto bit her lip. "She's still in the park." She hugged her body.

"What!?" Maker and Mercury practically screamed.

"She asked me to give this to you two," Pluto responded calmly and pulled out the letter Miya had written and handed it to the two. "She asked me to temporarily seal us here. You will understand soon." She turned around once again to hide the tears that were forming on her face – no matter how calm and stoic she may seem, Pluto was extremely upset about sacrificing the girl to save everyone. But she knew they had no other choice and only hoped the others would understand after reading the letter.

Everyone looked curiously at the letter as Mercury and Maker opened it.

**Dear Papa and Mama,**

**I have asked Auntie Pluto to take all of you to the Time Gates dimension. If you are there without me, you will be protected when I release the energy of my star seed. As the star senshi of ice, my energy freezes whatever it touches. And now with the help of the Golden Crystal, my energy has increased and may freeze the entire Earth. Once all the wraiths are frozen, Sailor Moon can destroy all of them simultaneously. **

**As a senshi, it is my duty to die protecting the Princess if necessary. But more importantly, this is something I must do to protect everyone I love. I am very happy to meet you two from this time (and everyone else) but I was never meant to live here in this time. After this mission, I would have nothing to return to in the future nor can I live with the terrifying memories of the life I had. This is for the best. **

**I just hope that you will be proud of all that I have accomplished. My hope is for everyone to have a better future. It may never be a perfect future because nothing is perfect but at least it will be a happy one. No matter what happens, your heart knows what it wants most and it will never fail to bring you happiness. Even if the happiness is short and brief, you will live with no regrets. My only regret in life is condemning one of my best friends. But Small Lady lived with no regrets and she sacrificed herself for the ones she loves as well. She wants everyone to live life to the fullest and embrace each and everyday with happiness. So with that, I also wish that everyone will be happy everyday and be with the person they love most. Don't ever give up on finding happiness! **

**I love you very much and I am happy to die protecting you. Promise that you won't forget me and all the fun times you had with Seito Naomi. We will meet again someday.**

**I love you.**

**Miya Kou**

Mercury flung herself at her lover as her tears fell onto Maker's chest. Tears were also falling down Maker's face as they held each other. Her grip tightened around Mercury's shoulder and hair as they cried over their future daughter. Even though they were not yet her parents, they were nevertheless extremely proud of her – they were proud that their daughter grew up to be selfless, willing to die protecting the people she loves.

Everyone else was proud of her too. Even though the Inner senshi and Stalights had known her primarily as Seito Naomi, they had fun together and the girl had always given them good advice as a friend. Now that they know what she was doing, they couldn't help but feel a sense of loss… as if they lost a family member. Some of them were also a little disappointed that they didn't spend more time with the girl as Miya, not as Naomi. Even the Outer senshi were weeping quietly, lamenting the death of the brave girl.  
Although upset, the others could only imagine what Mercury and Maker were feeling.

Although he hadn't known the girl, Tuxedo Kame was still touched by her words and what she was willing to for everyone. But upon reading the letter, he had so many questions. He had to ask the question that concerned him the most, "What did she mean when she said she had help from the Golden Crystal?"

It was Pluto who answered him, "Proximity to the Golden Crystal must have allowed it to pour some of its power into her." She had never understood how Miya had obtained the power when it was initially mentioned. But ever since she had heard that the girl was with Mamoru that night, Pluto suspected that the dark energy had inadvertently transferred some of Mamoru's energy to Miya as it tried to corrupt her as well. She realized now that Miya's increasing irritability these past couple weeks was possibly due to the dark energy that seeped into her.  
Nevertheless, Pluto decided not to tell Mamoru that it was Miya he was with that night... Mamoru was still a kind man even if Endymion had become ruthless – he did not need to suffer the humiliation. "It is similar to the time when Nehelenia took control of the Golden Crystal. It enhances the powers of its yielder."

Mamoru wasn't completely convinced – he still wondered how she would have contact with the Golden Crystal, his star seed. He wanted to ask but gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he saw Pluto shake her head as a sign for him to stop questioning her.

"It is time to return."

Everyone nodded. Pluto raised her staff and a bright red light surrounded them once again. When the light faded, they were in the park again. But everything was different…

Everyone felt warm even though the sky was still bleak and everything they could see was encased in ice. Black figures of the wraiths, the trees, the ground, houses… the Earth stood still… everything was frozen. But despite the Earth being frozen, it wasn't cold. In fact, it was warm – the warmth that wrapped around them was comforting… almost like it was protecting them.

Then a small noise was heard. They all ran towards it.

There, they found Rime Star, on her knees as if she had just fallen. Her uniform was torn and tattered and she was bleeding from numerous wounds from when the wraiths attempted to attack her before she released her energy. She detransformation and fell face forward onto the ground, unmoving.

Mercury and Maker rushed to her side and knelt next to her and lifted her into Mercury's arms. The water senshi cradled her, 'Her body is so cold…' The light brush of Taiki's fingers on her cheek was enough to rouse Miya.

"Mama, Papa" She turned head from Mercury to Maker and smiled back at their loving faces. "I thought I'd never see you again." She closed her eyes briefly as her body started to fade. Every cell in her body ached and she barely had enough energy to stay conscious.

Tears poured from their faces as Mercury held her tighter and Maker held her hand. The others were also crying silently as they watched Miya continue to fade from the arms of her parents. No one knew what to say or do to comfort them…

Then, a tune interrupted the silence. Fighter was singing – she remembered that a particular tune soothed the girl to a peaceful sleep. Her voice was trembling from sadness as she started but she was determined to sing for Miya… her friend and future niece. It was her final gift to Miya.

Maker recognized it as the old Kinmouku lullaby and joined in to sing. Healer joined in as well. And as the three Starlights sang for her, Miya looked up at the stars and smiled softly.

Her voice was barely a whisper, "I feel… so warm." She closed her eyes for the last time and vanished into the darkness.

****Please review****


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: HI! Thanks for the reviews! uh. i want to say something but I can't think of anything. so just enjoy :)**

Maker felt her own fingers touching her palm when Miya's hand disappeared and Mercury fell into her own arms, heartbroken and crying. Maker quickly reached over and pulled her into her embrace and cried silently on Mercury's shoulder. Mercury weaved her arms around her lover's waist, pulling their bodies closer as they continued to kneel on the ground. Everyone stood around them, crying as they tried to comfort each other.

After a while, Maker pulled back and rested her forehead on Mercury's forehead as she whispered into the other's lips, "We'll see her again." Maker felt her nod and brought their lips together, kissing softly.

"Get a room!" They looked up at Healer in disbelief at her tactlessness. Yaten wiped a tear from her eye and continued sheepishly, "So she can be born again." She winked at the couple who was now blushing furiously and they suddenly jumped away from each other. It earned them a few giggles from everyone else. Although crude, Maker nevertheless appreciated Healer's effort to cheer everyone up.

"How touching." Everyone whipped around to see who had spoken. Endymion was hobbling up towards them, clutching his chest in pain with one hand and his sword in the other. He no longer wore his charming smile, but instead his face was twisted in anger.

All eyes were bulging in shock at Endymion's appearance. Neptune started to voice her shock, "How are you still…?"

Rolling his eyes, he interrupted her, "Please, I can't be defeated by my own power. But you will all pay for what you've done!" The evil has finally taken complete control of him. Endymion had lost the small piece of compassion he still had in his heart when the senshi left him to die by Rime Star's energy. And now he was angry, practically shaking with rage. He lifted his sword as he rushed at the senshi but before any of them could attack, someone jumped in front of him to block the oncoming sword.

For the briefest moment, shock registered on his face. But Endymion's face returned to its twisted state… Endymion was angrier than before when he faced his opponent. "Why are you helping them? They're the ones who hurt US!" Tuxedo Kame had jumped out and blocked Endymion's sword with his cane. Endymion's heart was so corrupt that he could no longer understand why his younger self would protect the others, nor did he care anymore. All he wanted was to destroy everyone and everything, including the planet if necessary. But to keep himself alive, he couldn't hurt his younger self so he tried to push him away as the other attempted to block his path.

"Sailor Moon! Hurry and use the Crystal!" Tuxedo Kame continued to block Endymion's path to the senshi. Although a part of him was furious knowing how his beloved Usako had destroyed their future together, his heart was still devoted to the girl. And he had vowed to always protect her, even if it meant giving up his life.  
Endymion was a visual remainder since Tuxedo Kame _saw_ how his heart and mind would slowly be consumed by darkness but he hoped that he could help the senshi in whatever way he could… at least for now.

Getting frustrated, Endymion continued to yell at his younger self, "WHY!?" and swung his sword forcefully down at him… repeatedly.

Blocking the attacks, Tuxedo Kame only smiled at replied kindly, "Because I love her."

Endymion's expression softened slightly… as if he was surprised by the reminder of his true feelings. But he quickly composed himself and his face changed into one of disgust as he struck again. Infuriated, he snarled at his younger self, "She doesn't love you."

"It doesn't matter." Tuxedo Kame smiled gently and looked away, lamenting the loss of his love. Endymion saw his chance and pushed him aside as he walked towards the senshi who had gathered around Sailor Moon.

* * *

Upon hearing Tuxedo Kame tell her to use the crystal, the Sol senshi wasted no time and formed a circle around Sailor Moon. They all stood with their eyes closed in deep meditation as the crystal on their tiara began to shine, gathering their energy for the Silver Crystal. The Starlights stood aside in awe as they saw the lotus-shaped Silver Crystal appear. The white light of the crystal washed over Sailor Moon, transforming her into Neo-Queen Serenity. She lifted the crystal high above her head and it shone brightly.

A wave of warmth swept over everyone and they felt the energy Serenity held. It was something far stronger than any of the Sol senshi had felt before, but it didn't worry them. They felt… they _knew_… Serenity would be safe even after using this energy. The Starlights smiled as they remembered this same gentle warmth from a year ago. It was the same one that gave them hope in the darkest hour against Galaxia.

But they all frowned slightly as they felt the light dim - Serenity had just heard Tuxedo Kame say that he still loves her and she felt guilty. Guilty for condemning Chibi-Usa, guilty for discarding their history and future, guilty for loving another man, guilty for breaking his heart… just guilty.

A tear trickled down her face from beneath her closed eyes. She felt her energy drain from her as she tried to keep the light shining, but it started to dim. But before she fell into darkness, she felt a familiar warmth spreading from her shoulder. Serenity turned to look. It was Fighter – she had placed a hand on Serenity's shoulder for encouragement. Serenity felt the intense love that radiated from the Starlight's smiling face. It was a strong, deep, unwavering love… and it was all for her. She continued to gaze deep into the pool of midnight blue eyes and it was then that she knew without a shadow of a doubt… 'She's the one. Fighter is the one who gives me that gentle warm energy that fuels the Silver Crystal… because… because she is the one my heart yearns for. She's the one.' The light grew stronger as Serenity's eyes wandered to her friends. 'I can't give up. I have so many people who love me and whom I love in return. I need to stay strong to protect them.'

"I will never give up!"

The light from the Silver Energy grew so bright that it was blinding. It spread rapidly through the sky and engulfed the whole planet.

"Odango," Serenity looked at Fighter beaming at her. The light had engulfed everything, leaving the two of them surrounded by the light, "I love you." Fighter lifted her hands to brush against Serenity's soft cheeks.

Serenity leaned in to the warm fingertips as the two moved closer together. Tears of joy formed on her face as their lips finally met in a sensual kiss. It was everything she imagined and more... she had never felt such intense love, such passion, and _energy_ from a kiss. 'No matter what may happen, I just need you by my side. Seiya's love for me... our love... will protect everything and everyone. With our love... the Earth, the future, the universe... _everything_... everything will be perfect.'

The light faded as their lips parted. Midnight blue eyes and cerulean eyes lingered on each other for a moment longer before reluctantly turned away to face the others. Fighter and Sailor Moon both knew that they would have time alone later… they would have all the time in the universe now. They looked at everyone still standing around them. Some were wiping tears from their eyes but all were happy as they looked at Serenity and Fighter... together, at last.

****Please review****

**PS. It's not over yet. **


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: Sorry it took so long... but here's a new chapter =) Enjoy!**

The sun began to rise upon dark Tokyo. Everything glittered in the bright rays of dawn. There was no ice, no wraiths, and surprisingly… no Endymion.

"Where is he?" Uranus growled while looking around for the king, ready to attack if necessary.

Tuxedo Kame stood up from the ground and dusted off his clothes. "He disappeared with the light."

"He was completely controlled by evil, so he must have been purified by Serenity's powers." Pluto explained.

Serenity walked gracefully over to Tuxedo Kame. She detransformed to Usagi as they stood facing each other. Usagi wanted this to be just about Usagi and Mamoru – not Endymion and Serenity, not even Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kame… just Tsukino Usagi and Chiba Mamoru.

"Mamo-chan," the corners of her lips lifted slightly, as if she was testing whether or not he would talk to her. To her relieve he smiled back, allowing her to continue. "I'm so sorry for misunderstanding you that day. I'm so sorry for… for…"

Suddenly, he took a step forward and brought her into his arms. "It's ok. I'll still love you Usako." He hugged her tighter, pouring all his emotions into the hug. "I will always love you… just as friends." Although she knew it hurt him, she was glad that he understood and was willing to let her go. Knowing now that Seiya and Usagi had his blessing, her heart felt at ease. It was as though a burden that was weighing her down had disappeared – they were finally released from the destiny of the Earth Prince and the Moon Princess.

Usagi wrapped her arms around him and whispered into chest. "Thank you." He smiled as he leaned into her hair, smelling the familiar scent of strawberries for the last time. Being so close to her, the light that she emitted was so strong that Mamoru felt it seep into him and the warmth of it filled his heart. He felt the anger that had tried to control him disappear. The evil was gone… forever.

He pulled her arms gently off of him as he took a step back. After one last look at her twinkling cerulean eyes, he turned to find Seiya. His cobalt eyes met midnight blue ones.

"From now on, you'll be the one to protect her." Mamoru smirked, "From one guy to another."

Seiya smirked back, remembering those same words that he had said to him before. "I understand."

With that, Mamoru turned around to walk away, leaving his broken heart behind to start a new life.

* * *

Since the battle a few weeks ago, life had returned to normal for the senshi. They continued to go to school, hang out at Fruits Crown Palour, and talked about boys and clothes.

"…so this hot guy came up to me and asked me for my number!" Mako exclaimed as stared dreamily into the distance. The girls and the Three Lights had gathered once again at Fruits Crown Parlour after school.

"EH! Lucky! I want to meet him!" Mina leaned across the table at her dazed friend. Yaten twitched his eyebrows irritably and attempted to pull his girlfriend back down to her seat. Although he wasn't worried about losing Mina, he just didn't want his girlfriend to look at any guy other than himself.

Being so caught up in Mako's story, Mina had completely forgotten that Yaten was there, "Ah! Sorry Yaten! But I know he'll never be as cool as you." She laughed nervously, hoping it would appease him. Yaten rolled his eyes and sighed. But as punishment, he flicked her on the forehead making her yelp in surprise. Everyone chuckled at the couple's cute antics.

"Ne Odango," Seiya was sitting next to Usagi with his arms around her waist. The two had been dating ever since that night Mamoru let her go; they were inseparable. "We have to return to Kinmouku in a few days."

Silence. The boys had only mentioned that they would return to Kinmouku, not specifying why they were leaving or when they were to return to Earth. The girls had assumed that they were leaving them forever again. They looked around hoping that one of the boys would say it was a joke or … anything.

"It will only be to tell Princess Kakyuu that we have decided to stay on Earth." Seiya finally explained to the girl's relieve, suppressing a chuckle when he saw their reaction. He never missed a chance to frighten the girls any way he could.

"Forever?" Usagi looked up at him concerned that if he ever left her again, she would fall to pieces. She felt that she would never be complete again without him in her life.

He smiled reassuringly at her. "I hope so."

"Well," Rei pointed to the other two boys, "At least we know these two will be back." When they looked at her curiously, she sighed at her friends' stupidity. "Miya and Gin."

Her comment made the two couples blush furiously. Mina became quiet and stared at the table, Yaten was blushing as he looked at the ceiling pretending he didn't hear her. Ami was beet red while fidgeting with her cup of tea, Taiki cleared his throat while turning away to hide his pink cheeks. Everyone else giggled.

"We'll have one too!" Seiya announced cheerfully to everyone's surprise. Usagi had almost fallen out of her chair from shock and embarrassment.

"W-what are you saying Seiya!?" Usagi stuttered out, blushing furiously.

He winked at her, "Don't you want a cute kid with good-looking guy?" He pulled her close to him and kissed lightly on her flaming red cheek causing her to blush even more. Usagi was about to push him away when he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair as he stood up. Everyone stopped laughing when the two stood up to leave. They looked at him, wondering what he was about to do.

He merely shrugged and told them nonchalantly, "Never too late to start." He smiled mischievously and winked at everyone, pulling the speechless blushing Usagi after him. Everyone still at the booth blushed at his comment.

Down the street, Seiya was holding firmly onto Usagi's petite hand. He made sure to interlock their fingers so she couldn't escape too easily. But she never tried to leave his side – Usagi was still surprised by his sudden declaration for a child and was nervous that he may have been serious.

"You don't really mean…" Usagi was still blushing and walked while looking at the floor.

Seiya loved to tease her, 'She's so cute when she's embarrassed.' He smirked slyly at her, "We could if you want." Her head suddenly popped up to oppose but he leaned in and caught her lips in a passionate kiss. In the middle of the street, in broad daylight, Seiya was not embarrassed to kiss the love of his life. He could never kiss her enough… always hungry for more. When they parted for air, he breathed heavily, "I just wanted to spend some time with you alone today." He desired her more than anything but Seiya knew Usagi wasn't ready and would wait until she was, even if it meant forever. Just being by her side and knowing she was happy was more than he could ever hope for.

Slightly stunned from the unexpected yet satisfying kiss, she nodded speechlessly. Relieved to know that Seiya would never rush into it, Usagi looped her arms enthusiastically around his. The couple continued to walk down the street and eventually spent the night at a carnival.

Everything was perfect.

****Please review******I've decided to have epilogue! Stay tuned! **


	31. Epilogue

**AN: Hi! Thanks for the reviews! Here's the finale...I hope you'll like it! :)**

"Taiki stop pacing, it's giving me a headache!" Yaten was getting annoyed at Taiki who had been pacing for the past hour out of nervousness. Taiki shot him a dangerous glare but Yaten merely shrugged and continued to talk to Mina.

Seiya, Usagi, Yaten, Mina, Rei, and Mako were sitting in the hospital waiting area for the past hour. Ami was in labour. Taiki had unceremoniously been told to leave his wife's side while they examined her because he started questioning and instructing the doctors on what to do. Seiya and Yaten had to pull him out before their friend had time to yell at a frustrated doctor. The two men chuckled at their friend's nervousness – they had never seen the calm and logical Taiki like this.

"I should be in there." It was the hundredth time he had muttered those words.

"Just calm down and they'll let you back in." Seiya told his friend calmly and Taiki grudgingly sat in a vacant chair. He quietened down after a while.

"Oh! I forgot!" Usagi quickly whipped out a letter from her purse. Just before hearing that Ami had gone into labour, Usagi received a letter. She didn't have time to open it when she rushed to the hospital and had completely forgotten about it until now. "It's a letter from Mamoru." She beamed as she read it, "OH WOW! Seiya look!" She shoved the letter into her husband's face.

Seiya pulled it out of her hands to read it aloud, "Dear Usagi, I am happy to tell you that I have just proposed to my girlfriend and she said yes! Thank you for all your suggestion on the proposal." Seiya smiled. He knew Usagi would have suggested many super romantic gesture Mamoru could use… maybe too many. There was a tinge of sympathy for Mamoru as Seiya could imagine his wife bombarding the poor man with ideas. "I would love for you and everyone to come to my wedding. I think it will be in a year, but I will send you a formal invitation when we have set a date. I hope you, Seiya, and your little one are doing well and had fun on your vacation on Kinmouku. Tell me all about it in your next letter! Hope to see you soon. Your friend, Mamoru."  
Usagi and Mamoru had kept in touch when he moved to America to continue his studies. Although broken up, they had remained very close friends. The letters weren't frequent, but they would always update each other on their lives. The last letter Mamoru sent had enclosed a picture of his present fiancée – a red-haired girl with bright cerulean eyes. They were quite a striking pair... and to top it off, they were both well-esteemed doctors. Mamoru had met her when he graduated from Harvard and started working in the hospital as a doctor. Usagi could tell that they were very happy together.

"I'm so happy for them! I can't wait to see him again!" Usagi was practically squealing as her eyes twinkled in excitement. "I'm glad he could find someone he loves." She smiled lovingly at Seiya and leaned in and kissed him quickly on his cheeks.

Seiya winked at his wife and looked down, "Just like we have." He hugged the infant on his lap closer. Usagi had leaned over and brushed her sleeping daughter's hair. The one year old had her dark pink, almost purple, hair tied into two low ponytails. If her eyes were open, they would see the dark midnight blue eyes she had inherited from her father. But the girl was sleeping comfortably in his father's arms while clutching the Luna Ball against her chest. Usagi always smiled when she looked at the Luna Ball that reminded her of Chibi-Usa, 'Someday… I'll tell you about your sister.'

A few more minutes had passed and Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, and Setsuna had arrived.

"How is Ami-chan?" Michiru asked.

"They're doing an exam on her right now." Mako replied. She saw that Haruka had spotted Taiki a few chairs down. Haruka wanted to ask why he wasn't by Ami's side but kept quiet as she saw how stressed he was. She raised an eyebrow at Mako as if silently asking why Taiki was out here.

Mako eyed Taiki cautiously and was reluctant to answer to avoid irritating the already agitated Taiki. Rei stepped up and answered, "He got kicked out by the doctors." And the newly arrived senshi held back a giggle.

"She'll be fine Taiki." Seeing how upset Taiki was, Hotaru walked up to the man and patted him on the shoulder. He smiled weakly in return.

"Who is Taiki-san? You may come back in." Taiki immediately shot up and followed the nurse back in the operating room.

Moments later, they heard screams down the hallway and they knew that the baby was coming.

"I've never heard Ami scream like that." Mina shuddered, "It must be painful."

Yaten turned his head to face his wife and kissed her gently on the cheek. "It'll be alright." He knew what she was thinking about, "You'll be fine. And then we'll see our beautiful baby boy." He leaned down and kissed Mina's belly, rubbing it affectionately. .

Mina unconsciously rubbed it too. She wasn't completely convinced but managed to smile back at Yaten, whispering, "Gin." The couple had another two months before he was going to be born and they couldn't wait until they would meet him. Excited as they were though, they were just glad that they weren't the first couple to have a baby. This way, they can see how the others managed first. Yaten had taken the pleasure of tormenting Seiya when he had his child… little did he suspect, Seiya would use his experience to his advantage and scare his silver-haired friend even more.

* * *

Since Mamoru and Usagi were no longer together, Crystal Tokyo was not created. And without the creation of Crystal Tokyo, the senshi followed their dreams. Although they hadn't transformed ever since the last battle, they were always ready and occasionally gathered together to keep in touch. Before today, it had been weeks since their last meeting together.  
Haruka became a champion F1 driver while Michiru was a world-renowned violinist and artist. The couple had recently eloped on a beach on a remote island. Hotaru was to be valedictorian in her high school and has decided to enroll in Tokyo University. Setsuna periodically returned from guarding the Time Gates for a visit. Rei became a successful business woman while tending to the shrine with Yuuichiro. Mako opened a 5-star restaurant in downtown Tokyo. Mina was a model before she became pregnant. Ami was on her way to becoming doctor and is actually an intern in the hospital they were in. The Three Lights had finally regrouped when they returned from Kinmouku. Although their concerts and tours were less frequent, they were still extremely popular. When it was publicized that they were having children, tabloids had dubbed their babies as "Baby Lights". And their beloved Moon Princess Usagi was the Three Lights' caretaker and stylist. Seiya couldn't be happier since he could be with her at all times. At first, Yaten and Taiki were worried that Usagi would be a distraction for Seiya but for the most part it actually helped Seiya – he focused on work instead of daydreaming about her. In fact, his photos turned out better than before as he would try to impress Usagi who always watched him pose for pictures. However, the two of them would occasionally disappear during work hours, only to have Seiya reappear after a short period of time with a smug grin on his face.

* * *

Screams were heard again.

"Don't worry." Pluto had seen the worried look on her friend's faces and reassured them. "Trust me."

A few more hours had passed and Taiki finally came back out, he had a huge grin on his face. "It's a girl."

Everyone cheered and followed after him to visit Ami. Upon entering her room, they saw how tired she was but her face glowed with happiness. The baby was sleeping soundly in her arms as Ami sat up on the bed. Taiki sat down beside her, put his arms around his wife and kissed her lovingly on her forehead. He was so happy to finally be a father and most importantly, he was relieved to see that his wife and baby were doing great. Ami gently rubbed the sleeping baby's cheek with her finger, waking her up.

"Say hello to everyone…" Ami tilted the baby so that everyone can see her better. All the senshi broke out in wide smiles as they saw the baby open her eyes, "…again."

The baby opened her eyes to reveal a pair of large pale azure colored eyes. Small tufts of chestnut brown hair were peeking from beneath the blanket she was wrapped in. She didn't cry when she woke up, she simply looked wide-eyed at everyone and tried to lift the corners of her mouth as if to smile.

Taiki wiped away a small tear that was about to fall down his face.

"Welcome back, Miya."

****Please review****

**Thank you so much for reading! I never thought this story would turn out like this! Thanks for all the reviews and your support! (I feel like I'm giving an oscar speech or something so I'll stop now)**

**Just wanted to have a special shoutout to a Luna ;) who is my very first reviewer (EVER!) and have become a good friend! got some good laughs through this whole story!**

**Anyways... thanks for reading! please check out my other stories!**


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